Powerpuff Girls Forever: Featuring an OC Named Black
by The Purple Meanie
Summary: From the writer of Super Smash Bros. Universe: The Fanfiction I Wrote in 2011 (that's me), comes another tale that was written several years ago containing: spelling errors, an original character with a terrible name, unnecessary angst and violence, more detective work than action, and homoeroticism between two villains. Still, it's probably better than the Powerpuff Girls reboot.
1. Chapter 1: A Rushed Beginning

**AN: Hey guys, here it is, another fan fiction I wrote several years that I want to share with you all because why not? If you haven't, you can check out the other bad fanfic I wrote titled "Super Smash Bros. Universe" for more hilarity. This particular one I wrote after SSBU, so it's not nearly as bad, but there's bound to be some cringey moments and spelling errors anyway (yes, I kept in the spelling and grammatical errors). And that's not even getting into the stupid OC I wrote for this.**

 **Still, this story is probably better than the Powerpuff Girls reboot. (burn)**

* * *

 _The city of Townsville...let's face it, it would be an awful place to live in. The one, or should I say three things that make living here kind of bearable are the Powerpuff Girls!_

Chapter 1:

One day while the Powerpuff Girls were patrolling the city of Townsville, they ran into the Rowdyruff Boys, who introduced the girls to a new member of their team; a young boy with jet black hair, green skin and a complete black attire with a red stripe in the shirt. His name was Black, not suprisingly. The Rowdyruff Boys let their new "brother" fight the Powerpuff Girls by himself, while Brick, Boomer, and Butch cheered him on.

Black by himself was no doubt as powerful as the other three boys. Black was silent throughout the entire fight, he countered Blossom's attacks, outsmarted Bubbles and flew faster than Buttercup. His attacks were unlike anything the girls had every seen, he could create explosions with the blink of an eye, he summoned humongous amounts of dark energy and the black contrail he left behind where he flew was untouchable.

The Girls were badly beaten up by Black, their feminine charm definetly didn't work but threatening his masculinity didn't work either. But instead of finishing the Girls off, the four boys flew away, laughing at their success.

Confused and depressed, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup went back to their beloved hime, and they wept for hours in their room while the Professor tried but failed to cheer them up. This was not the first time they felt this vulnerable, but this time they didn't know what would have happened if all 4 of them had used their powers.

The next day the Powerpuff Girls decided to do the unthinkable: Ask their ultimate arch-nemisis Mojo Jojo for help, "Anybody have an idea why this kid looks kinda like Mojo?" Buttercup asked.

"Maybe HIM made Black look like Mojo to make fun of us?" Bubbles answered uncertainly.

"Well, since HIM still has the Rowdyruff Boys, maybe Mojo wants them back and if we have Mojo coming with us to HIM's house, we can catch them by suprise and defeat them," Blossom suggested. All three of them were very unsure about their plan, but it was the only one they could think of.

It was early in the morning and the triplets raced away from their hime before the Professor woke up and they flew over the skyscrapers to Mojo Jojo's not-so-secret hideout in the middle of the city, with each of their hearts pounding with fear. The three used their super strength to burst through the roof, then they sped down the stairs to Mojo's living room. Before the girls could begin pleaing, they gasped at the people before them.

HIM and Mojo were sitting on a couch turned toward the door, Mojo was holding onto HIM's crab-like claws, and they both were maliciously grinning at the heroes, as if they were expecting them. Black was in front of the evil duo, floating ever so closer to them. The Powerpuff Girls heard snickers behind them, and they could see from the corner of their eyes Brick, Boomer, and Butch blocking the exit way, cracking their knuckles, ready to fight.

Black stopped a few feet in front of them as Mojo said with delight, "You are quite clever for deducing that the Powerpuff Girls would be looking for my aid to defeat you, my boy!"

 _"I told you he was a darling!"_ HIM cooed. Brick and Butch rolled their eyes while Boomer stifled a laugh. The heroes turned to Black as he spoke for the very first time,

"We would have destroyed you three yesterday, but we decided to wait so you could meet our happy family first." Black spoke with an accent like Mojo, but his tone was smooth and elegant sounding like HIM. The girls could clearly see small fangs instead of canine teeth in his mouth as the new boy spoke. Obviously, the other boys were getting impatient, for they each blasted a large ray of red, blue, and green at their counterparts. Expecting this, the Powerpuff Girls whipped around and shot pink, blue, and green energy beams at their counterparts, Blossom at Brick, Bubbles at Boomer, and Buttercup at Butch.

In those several moments they forgot about Mojo and HIM's creation, Black had already flown above above the fighters. The triplet heroes had no time to react. With his right hand Black shot a beam of dark energy at Bubbles, who immediatly stopped her rays and began screaming in agony. Quickly with his other arm the new villain did the same to Buttercup, who shrieked in anger. Finally, Black blasted two rays of energy at Blossom with his eyes.

Blossom, who could not move away from Brick's beams, shut her eyes as the attack covered her. But it forced her eyes open, and it was like being stabbed in every part of the body with thick, cold swords to her. Blossom gave up fighting Brick's lasers. All she could hear was the screaming and crying of herself and her sisters, her tears burned her face as it rolled down her cheeks. _Why didn't I think there would be a trap?_ she thought to herself, miserably.

Although the two energies covered most of Blossom's vision, she could faintly see the outlines of HIM and Mojo, who came closer to the seemingly victorious boys, no doubt to mock the sisters. The cold that Blossom had felt was turning to sweltering hot, yet the pain was starting to go away and the leader of the PPGs was starting to feel sleepy. _I guess this is what it feels like to die,_ she wondered.

Just as they were about to go completely limp, the blasts suddenly stopped, and the girls fell to the floor, gasping for air. Different colored lights blocked most of their vision and the harsh sound of the lasers still rang in their ears. Buttercup realized she was very scorched, and she opened her eyes to see what was going on. The villains were backing away from where the girls lay, and as their vision and hearing were starting to clear, they saw the hazy figure of Black floating away from the girls, the others were crowded around each other. Mojo and HIM were shouting with worry and the evil brothers were shouting with fear.

To the Powerpuff Girls' suprise, Brick, Boomer, and Butch collapsed to the floor. Bubbles' hearing was still fuzzy, but she could make out HIM saying, _"...now! Quickly... my place!"_ and Mojo muttered something. The evil simian stared at the sisters' direction. He seemed to say,

"...about the girls?" to which HIM replied,

 _"...later... more important."_ The feminine demon waved a claw and the six enemies disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just about then more people entered the living room. Several police spread out across the room, trying to look for the missing villains, the Mayor scurried to the fallen heroes and gently shook Bubbles. "They got away..." she whispered. Ms. Bellum, the Mayor's assistant, came in and gently pat Buttercup and Blossom on their heads.

Doctors and nurses put the girls on strecthers and Professor Utonium rushed to the girls as they were being taken outside. Their father was breaking down, tears had covered his face and he could barely speak, and when he did his voice was cracked,

"We-we could all h-hear you girls screaming and-and we knew something was wr-wrong, but when we f-found you-" The Professor began sobbing, and instead of finishing his sentence he held the girls' hands all the way outside. The triplets were placed inside an ambulance, but the doctors would not let the Professor inside. After a bit of argueing, as the doors were being closed, Utonium called out, "I'll see you real soon, don't worry girls. Everything will be all right!"

While the ambulance drove away a nurse attached an oxygen supporter on each of the sisters' mouths. Weary from the battle, they fell asleep all the way to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2: A Quick Recovery

Chapter 2:

Before they knew it, they were in a drab room, each having their own little bed. Bubbles did not remember much about the procedures, but she remembered them washing out their singed hair, and they put the girls in fresh clothing as they put on a cool, sticky substance to clean their scorched skin. At first, the Professor had to feed the girls like a baby, put on their clothes, etc. since the girls were almost parylzed by the lasers. Buttercup hated being treated like a baby,

"Professor, I can do this, look!" she would say as she would try to feed herself, but for the first few days her arms would give up and go limp. Bubbles would have nightmares about the pain, screaming,

"STOP IT! IT HURTS SO MUCH!" The Professor would always hug her and calm her down enough for her to fall back asleep.

"Think about all the things you love," he told her once.

"Like... animals, or cupcakes, and my sisters?"

"Exactly," her father yawned, kissing her forehead and returning to the couch beside her bed. Blossom was the first on to recover, she soon could feed herself, dress herself, and she managed to fly slowly around the room for a solid minute. The leader of the PPGs and the Professor helped Bubbles and Buttercup out of bed and they quickly learned to walk and run freely. The heroes practiced flying around outside, helping each other back up whenever one would fall.

They practiced fighting by gently battling each other, they soon were able to use their ice breath, create energy beams, run at sonic speed and much more. By the end of the month the girls' powers had returned and they were almost completely normal. The doctors finally approved for them to go back home. On the day they were set to leave, the Professor, the Mayor, and Ms. Bellum gathered in the room to ask the Powerpuff Girls about what happened that day.

Blossom explained about how HIM and Mojo had apparently joined forces and somehow created Black. Bubbles expained about the Rowdyruff Boys and how much stronger their powers were combined with Black, and Buttercup told the adults about the RRBs collapsing and how HIM took the others back to his place. The adult were most interested in Black.

"So you say this child is LITERALLY a mixture of Mojo and HIM?" Ms. Bellum questioned.

"Probably, he seems to have the smarts of Mojo and HIM's powers, I don't think we've even seen what he can do!" Blossom confirmed.

"Maybe the Boys got tired and they were taking a nap!" the Mayor cheerfully suggested.

"Honestly, I'm glad, if they didn't pass out WE would have been a pile of dust!" Buttercup grumbled. Prof. Utonium paced around the room, his eyes having a black stare in them, he was thinking deeply about something.

"Perhaps the Rowdyruff Boys are not perfectly made, perhaps an ingredient is missing, or the Chemical X that came from Mojo is not enough to give them powers for a long period of time," he theorized.

"We won't find out about any of this unless we investigate, and Black might end up like the others if he was created with the same ingredients," Blossom realized. The adults in the room looked uncomfortable, especially the Professor.

"I can't allow you to just go headfirst into a place where you're easily outnumbered, I'm sure you can take care of HIM and Mojo, but two times Black has overpowered you!" their father said worriedly.

"Yeah girls, you just got all fixed up, and you don't want to come straight back here, do you?" the mayor asked in a teasing tone. The trio had to agree to this.

"We're all worried about you, you three are best thing that's ever happened to Townsville, and we just won't allow your heroic acts to end so soon," Ms. Bellum reassured the girls.

The Professor and his daughters were escorted to the Prof.'s car, and the four passengers didn't speak much on the way home. Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles were overjoyed to return home, and they leaped onto their bed, enjoying their warm sort-of-safe house.

"How can we stop those guys if we don't know what to do" Bubbles wondered out loud after a while.

"Easy. We do a stealth mission, the three of us can sneak into HIM's place and we get the stuff we need to defeat them and we fly away before they catch us!" Buttercup proposed.

"I like your idea Buttercup, but what are we gonna do if Black catches us?" Blossom pointed out. The tough sister folded her arms and scowled. A few moments later Blossom added, "But I think if all of our questions are solved, then we'll have a good idea of how to stop them." There was a bit of silence, and then Bubbles said timidly,

"Since Mojo and HIM are friends again, what if they get Fuzzy and Princess to reunite the Beat-Alls?" The other two shuddered at the thought.

"You know something? All the times we were beaten by the Beat-Alls were nothing compared to what happened last month!" Buttercup chuckled.

"If the Beat-Alls reunite, then there might be no way for us to win! We _have_ to go to HIM's place and get the answers to our questions!" Blossom exclaimed.

"BUT BLOSSOM!" Bubbles cried. Blossom let out a breath and asked in a serious voice,

"Bubbles. Do you want the situation to get worse than it is now?" her sister shook her head slowly and Blossom continued solemly,

"The Professor may not want us to leave, but the Rowdyruff Boys and the possibility of the Beat-Alls reuniting will mean we can't stop them. But as heroes it's our duty to try! We might fail, but at least we tried." Buttercup clapped her hands and cheered,

"Yay! You go Blossom!" They decided not to tell the Professor, since there was no way he would let them risk their lives again. But this time they wrote a note on a piece of paper and left it on their bed. Once the note was placed, the Girls few silently away. The note wasn't well written, but it said:

 _Dear Professor,_

 _We had to leave again, we can't let this get any worse. We just need some answers and maybe we can beat them. We probably won't come back home, and we know you'll be sad, but we are the citizens' heroes and we're not gonna sit and wait for the bad guys to win. Love, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup._

A crescent moon was over the girls' heads as the three flew across the night sky. The city lights were almost all out as the citizens prepared for bed. Bubbles stopped flying and she looked down at the city below her. Her sisters noticed this and they gathered around her.

"Do you think we'll see Townsville again?" Bubbles asked. Blossom and Buttercup shrugged, and without a word the Powerpuff Girls began flying once more.


	3. Chapter 3: A Moral Dilemma

Chapter 3:

The location of HIM's domain is unspeakable. Most people wouldn't even complete the journey to this place, the land around the entranceway discourages one from entering, and most people would cower and return home, the others are wise enough not to bother. The sisters gently landed on the stone ground once they reached their destination, dark trees loomed over them, and in front of the cave-shaped doorway the girls could see, floating in the air and looking straight at the three Powerpuff Girls: Black himself.

"Surprised to see me? I've been waiting here for you," the new Rowdyruff Boy said. The sisters could not run away, for Black would easily catch them. Now the only way to get out of this was to fight and die, or talk and hope for the best.

"We just want to ask you some questions," Blossom pleaded. The look in Black's eyes seemed to say that he would prefer not to talk, but he gently landed and sat on a large stone.

"Alright, Mojo and HIM probably won't notice," he sighed.

"Firstly, how did Mojo and HIM create you?" the leader asked. Black clenched his teeth and fists, then he rose up and snarled in a deep, adult-sounding voice similar to HIM,

"THAT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW!" Bubbles held her hands to her face and shook fearfully. Black took a deep breath and sat back down, then he looked at the girls smiling and he continued in his normal voice, "Stupid me. Of course you were going to ask that question, but I never said I'd answer all of them, you may ask me two more questions." The girls were too scared to protest.

"Fine. What's up with the other Rowdyruff Boys?" Buttercup questioned. Black looked at the ground and sighed. He just sat there silently fore what seemed like minutes. The boy looked back up at the trio with a sad, pitiful face and he explained,

"You see, they're not perfectly made, they were made with radioactive toilet water for crying out loud! Without enough Chemical X to sustain them, they'll just... cease to exist, and if we can't find all the original ingredients that created them, HIM won't be able to revive them again at all!"

The girls were touched, but they considered that Black might be lying. Bubbles stopped shaking,

"What about the Beat-Alls?" she inquired, as this was the final question they could ask. Black quickly switched his expression from sadness to triumph,

"All you need to know is they're coming soon, and you shouldn't even think about separating them this time," the boy smiled and folded his arms..

"NO!" the girls cried. They clenched their fists and rushed to Black. Without moving up from the stone, Black waved his hand in a circular motion. Dark blue light that resembled rope appeared around the girls, catching up to them and coiling around them all by itself. They could not bast away the rope, and so it completely wrapped around the triplets from shoulders to ankles, forcing them to stop flying.

The rope squeezed them so tightly they couldn't breathe. Black finally rose from the rock and he flew over the girls. Black clapped his hands and the ropes loosened just enough for the others to breath.

"I want to show you something," the boy said. He flew away from the entranceway, the rope binding the girls followed. Black stopped at a small window, with Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup unwillingly crowding around him. "Now, look closely inside, they won't be able to see us.

The four moved slightly down so that only the top of their heads and eyes peered through the window. Inside was a dark red room. There was a scarlett bed in the middle of the room. Brick, Boomer, and Butch were laying in the bed, their eyes half-open, skin deathly pale, and not moving besides the occasional twitching, they looked like they didn't recognize their surroundings.

Mojo Jojo was sitting on a tall stool on one side of the bed, gently stroking each boys' hair. Mojo was shaking slightly, biting his lips and the simian looked as if he were about to cry, trying very hard not to. HIM on the other side of the bed however, was sobbing, the tears smearing his eye shadow and blush. Since HIM could not stroke the children's hair with his crab-like claws, HIM was saying something to them. Since the window was covered with glass, the girls were not sure if it was a reassurance... or a lullaby.

The Powerpuff Girls were heartbroken at this point, but they were even more so when Mojo began weeping, he was shaking uncontrollably and he collapsed on the blanket in front of the boys. HIM collapsed on the bed too. Noticing that the Powerpuff Girls were about to cry, Black led the girls away back to the entrance of HIM's domain. After the girls and Black, who was also teary eyed, had calmed down, the boy waved his hand and the dark ropes disappeared from the sisters.

"What are you doing Black?" Buttercup sniffed.

"You've seen a small amount of our sadness now..." Black started. The Powerpuff Girls were reminded of how the Professor rarely left their sides when they were in the hospital recovering, and so the girls were a bit suprised, but deeply touched about how much their two worst enemies seemed to care about the sick boys. Black continued, "If it weren't for my brothers, HIM and Mojo would have never formed a bond like the one they share now, and I never would have been created. My parents used to fight over who should be the father of my brothers, but once they realized that they both did their job as a father... relatively well... now they're inseparable and they brought me into their lives."

"I'm so sorry!" Bubbles apologized. Black shook his head, but suddenly his eyes brightened a bit. He turned his head to the sisters, smiling and showing his teeth and he said,

"Take me to your home, if you lend me your Chemical X, just a bit of it, my brothers will be saved!"

"Why do you think we'd do that?" Blossom asked angrily. Black's smile faded and he flew down to the ground on his knees, he began begging,

"We'll call off the Beat-Alls, we'll give you anything you want! If my brothers die, Mojo and HIM will go even more insane, my brothers may be rude and obnoxious to you, but trust me when I say that our family gets along really well, you've seen how miserable we all are like this! We'll all be so heartbroken if my brothers die!" he wailed.

Unsure of how to answer, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup went back to the window and peered inside. Mojo and HIM had stopped crying; Mojo was rocking and cradling Brick in his arms, HIM was doing the same to Boomer and Butch. The girls returned to Black who was still on his knees.

"If we give you Chemical X, would you stop attacking Townsville?" Blossom asked. Black looked startled.

"Well-I uh, but-but that's practically what we live for!" he stammered.

"I knew it, let's go!" Buttercup scoffed. The sisters turned around and started flying away.

"WAIT!" Black shouted as he flew in front of them and held up his arms so they couldn't pass. "I'll talk to my parents tonight, I'll convince them to do this and you three can get the Chemical X and bring it here tomorrow night. You can go free," the look in Black's eyes were so pitiful, the Powerpuff Girls gave into his pleas.

"We'll bring it. But you have to let us give it to them. Then, you'll call off the Beat-Alls. And you must never attack Townsville again," Blossom listed her conditions. Black clapped his hands together and he spun around with joy,

"They were right when they told me you were a bunch of goody-two-shoes!" he cheered. Black headed for the entranceway, waving goodbye as the trio flew away.

"You better keep your promise!" Bubbles called back. HIM's domain was out of sight, but they had not gone far when they saw a figure rushing in their direction. The figure stopped in front of them on its knees and gasping for air. In the moonlight, the Powerpuff Girls saw it was just the Professor.

"Girls! There you are, I'm so glad you're alright!" their father panted.

"We're sorry-" Bubbles began but was cut off by the Professor who said indigantly,

"When we get home you girls should have a LOT to explain!" Without a word the girls picked up Prof. Utonium and the four flew back home. Once inside the children trudged into their bedroom with the Professor behind them. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup said on their beds guiltily. "When I found you note I ran to where you said you'd be expecting to see a pile of your ashes!" the Professor grunted.

Each of the sisters explained what had happened to the Rowdyruff Boys, Mojo and HIM's uncharacteristic love for said boys, how they had reunited the Beat-Alls and most importantly, the Powerpuff Girls and Black's decision to save his brothers' lives. Once they were done explaining, they hugged the Professor tightly and buried their faces into his lab coat. Their father patted each of them on the head.

"We had to say yes, if you saw how loving they were to the boys, you'd say yes too!" Blossom protested.

"They were just like you making us feel better when we were hurt." Bubbles recalled.

"But they might not keep their promises and it'll be all our faults!" Buttercup grumbled. The Professor smiled warmly and kissed the green PPG on the forehead.

"I think it's wonderful that those two of all people could have the experience of raising children perfect for them like I have" he sighed, then continued, "If Mojo Jojo and HIM really do love those boys, then they should know what's best for their family. If they do end up attacking Townsville again, that just means nothing will change their ways and we can't do much about that." His daughters yawned and nodded their heads. The Professor tucked them into bed and left the room.


	4. Chapter 4: Fluff Garbage

Chapter 4:

By morning the Powerpuff Girls agreed that they would give the Rowdyruff Boys some Chemical X, and if they were to come out of HIM's domain alive, then the girls would go home and prepare for the certain betrayal.

"I still think this is a stupid idea! If we know they won't keep their promise then why give them what they want?" Buttercup pointed out.

"I'd feel bad if the boys... died just because we wouldn't give them any Chemical X," Bubbles stated.

"You never know, they might keep their promise!" Blossom said hopefully.

"Well, then _I'm_ not going, Mojo and HIM will trap us and we'll be outnumbered and Townsville will be doomed!" Buttercup pouted. She sat firmly on her side of the bed, with her back to her sisters and her arms crossed. Her sisters took her by the arms and dragged her out of bed onto the floor.

"We can't do this without you!" Bubbles reminded her. Buttercup pushed her sisters away and she gave them a detirmined look,

"You just wait! You and I know that Mojo and HIM will never quit being evil just like THAT!"

* * *

The sun was about to set, and in the Professor's labrotory in the basement their father took out a bottle containing Chemical X: the special ingredient that gave the PPGs their superpowers. "Would you like me to come along with you so I know you'll be safe?" Professor Utonium asked nervously.

"It might be better if you don't, so they can trust us," Blossom reasoned. The Prof. nodded and proceded to unscrew the lid of the bottle. Then he carefully poured some of it into three thin test tubes that were on the table until each test tube was nearly full. Finally he screwed on the caps of the tubes as tightly as possible.

"There. One for each of them, be VERY careful," the Prof. warned. He handed one to Blossom, one to Bubbles and one to Buttercup, who hesitated before taking the container.

"Don't worry Professor, we won't be long," Bubbles promised as the girls flew away from home. Twilight was fading and soon it was replaced with a starry sky, with each of the Powerpuff Girls silently hoping they were doing the right thing. _Even if they've been mean to us, why shouldn't we do something nice for them?_ Blossom reasoned with herself.

 _I hope the Rowdyruff Boys say "thank you". It wouldn't be very nice of them if they don't,_ Bubbles thought in her mind. _I bet those stupid boys will slap away the Chemical X before we give it to them!_ Buttercup pondered. Sure enough, when the sisters landed in front of HIM's entranceway, Black was there pacing back and forth, and his eyes brightened upon seeing the girls.

"Thank goodness; my brothers are even worse, they don't have much time now," Black warned them.

"Did Mojo and HIM agree to everything we said?" Buttercup asked quickly. Black nodded and confirmed,

"Of course they said 'yes,' come on, the others are inside." With the new Rowdyruff Boy in the lead, the four children rushed through the doorway and headed inside HIM's lair. The walls of the house were such a deep red color it hurt the heroes' eyes and they had to squint as they passed each room. Bubbles noticed that HIM's vanity was quite dusty, he probably hadn't used it for awhile. Down a hall, past an elegant dining room and lastly through a crimson hallway and the four were in the bedroom.

Mojo and HIM were pacing to and fro the room, and they stopped and smiled at the girls and Black with joy. The two obviously hadn't slept for a few days as their eyes had dark circles underneath.

"We cannot thank you three enough for agreeing to Black's idea, we had no doubt you would do us this great kindness despite all of the times we have battled each other!" Mojo said cheerfully. He shook each of the suprised girls' hands.

 _"The boys are in my bed, you go on ahead,"_ HIM sniffed, motioning to the bed where the boys lay. Black was not lying when he said his brothers were worse than before; somehow they were even more pale, Brick looked completly out of it, he started blankly at the ceiling and was muttering some gibberish. Boomer had his eyes closed, his breathing was fast and shallow. Butch's eyes were half open and he was shaking violently. Their distaff counterparts could not help feeling extremely guilty.

The Powerpuff Girls hovered over and they landed softly on the blanket in front of the sick boys. They each unscrewed the caps on their test tubes and they leaned over the boys. Blossom pulled Brick up more upright and the pink PPG held the test tube up to Brick's lips, letting him drink a bit at a time so he could swallow. Bubbled fed Boomer the Chemical X like a baby bottle with the test tube, while humming the tune to 'Rock-a-Bye Baby,' which seemed to calm down the slightly suprised Boomer.

Buttercup held down Butch with one hand to slow down Butch's shaking, then with the other hand she forced her counterpart's mouth open and dumped the chemical into his mouth. With the empty test tubes in their hands the PPGs floated away from the bed to the middle of the room with Mojo and HIM biting their lips in anxiety.

Very quickly color was returning to the children's faces, Brick made eye contact with the girls for the first time, Boomer had opened his eyes and blushed when he saw Bubbles, and Butch stopped shaking. The Rowdyruff Boys gradually sat upright and blinked at the girls,

"Powerpuff Girls?" they exclaimed, their voices cracked from possibly a long time without speaking. The simian and the demon rushed to the boys' sides with Black joining them, and the girls were shocked to see them... embracing the first 3 Rowdyruff Boys. As Brick stood up on the bed Mojo began wiping away his tears of joy and Brick patted his creator's shoulders. Boomer leaped into HIM's open arms, the two squeezed each other tightly, HIM was laughing with happiness instead of evil triumph. A now energetic Butch pushed Black down and gave him a playful noogie, which made them both laugh.

Several minutes of this touching reunion went by, and finally Brick, Boomer, and Butch detatched from the rest of the family to face their female counterparts. Brick broke the silence,

"Wow... after everything we did to you... you still saved us anyway..." he said.

"It makes us feel bad for all the stuff we we did," Boomer added.

"...Not," Butch finished. The three boys simultaneously howled with laughter, Butch laughing so hard he fell back onto the bed. Mojo, HIM, and Black snickered, but in a playful tone as they watched the Powerpuff Girls glare at them and scowl.

"Of course our sons are grateful for what you have done tonight, and this is their way of expressing it," Mojo said to the girls, "Again, we cannot thank you three enough for keeping our family together!"

 _"You won't have to worry about us again, and we're all so sorry for what happened last month,"_ HIM apologized.

"WHAT?" The Powerpuff Girls exclaimed. Black flew over to the heroes,

"Of course we're agreeing to your treaty, what were you expecting us to say?" the green-skinned boy asked.

"But-but-" the girls started to say when Mojo Jojo interuppted by pointing out,

"The Professor must be starting to worry about you, why don't we escort you outside?"

"I'll do it. You five can be by yourselves," Black offered to the others.

 _"Goodbye and thank you so much... Blossom! Bubbles! Buttercup!"_ HIM called out cheerfully as Black led away the superheroes out of the once-evil lair. Outside, Black turned his head to the entranceway, then back to the girls,

"Let's hope all seven of us are in the same class this year!" he wished joyfully. He started to fly back inside the house, waving goodbye to the Powerpuff Girls before he was completely gone. The sisters lingered right where they were, processing in their minds what just happened.

"Did we just see... all of that?!" Blossom spoke up.

"I thought the boys would be a _little_ nicer to us," Bubbles admitted.

"Maybe I was wrong, but THAT was weird!" Buttercup stated. Deciding to continue talking once they returned home, the trio quickly left the premise. Although a couple of questions were answered, more of them surfaced and the triplets wanted them answered even more than before, some old questions still needed to be solved and the sisters' minds ached from thinking about them.

As the girls flew inside their home, the Professor met up with them and gave them a quick hug.

"Did it go well?" he greeted.

"Yeah. Too well," Blossom replied.

"They agreed to everything," Buttercup added.

"But the Rowdyruff Boys were SO ungrateful!" Bubbles cried with disgust.

"I wouldn't give it too much thought. Just be glad it was easy," their father yawned, "Goodnight girls!"

"Goodnight Professor!" his daughters called back. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup sleepily brushed their teeth and put on their pajamas, but they couldn't go to bed yet, they still had those unanswered questions still fresh in their minds. "Who agrees that we should find out why our enemies acted so nice?" Blossom asked the others.

"I bet the answers are somewhere in Mojo's house, tomorrow let's sneak in there and get some answers!" Buttercup suggested.

"What if they come back there while we're looking around?" Bubbles fretted. Buttercup scoffed, replying,

"They'll be spending all day at HIM's house hugging each other." The other two agreed with the toughest fighter.


	5. Chapter 5: EATING BREAKFAST

Chapter 5:

The girls nonchalantly flew out of their room the next day to the door leading outdoors. The sisters hoped the Professor wouldn't mind them leaving again. They could just tell him they were patrolling the city-

"Girls, where do you think you're going?" the Professor asked behind them.

"Out... patrolling for trouble?" Blossom lied unconvincingly. Their father folded his arms and tapped one of his feet up and down, with a little smile on his face.

"I know you're trying to sneak off to Mojo's lair; AGAIN. I heard your plans," he told them.

"But if we'd asked you you would've said 'no!'" Bubbles pointed out. Prof. Utonium walked closer to the sisters and patted Bubbles on the head.

"I'd only keep you from doing what you do best if there was no need for it, and there's no need now," the Professor reasoned.

"They're trying to make us think they're a happy lovey-dovey family!" Buttercup exclaimed, referring to the 6 villains. The Professor sighed, then proposed,

"I'll get dressed, then we'll eat out for breakfast in Townsville and we'll discuss this while we're eating." Several minutes went by and the Powerpuff Girls and the Professor were in his car, driving out of the suburban area to Townsville. The family drove into the city limits, not speaking a word, for there would be plenty of time to speak soon. The Professor eventually parked at a diner called the 'Rite-On-Time Diner.'

The four were escorted by a waitress to a booth, and they placed their orders. While they waited for the food, their father said, "Buttercup. You think they were _pretending_ to be nice to each other, correct?" Buttercup nodded and replied,

"Yeah! Something about the whole thing seemed _off!_ "

"...Once they think we've given in... BOOM! They'll take over the world before we know it!" Blossom agreed.

"But WE'RE smart and we know those bad guys are big, fat liars!" Bubbles finished triumphantly. It was quite clear their Dad was trying to stifle a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand to softly chuckle, the sisters heard him and became a little angry.

He soon managed to stop and he stroked each child's hair to apologize,

"This is VERY strange for all of them, I admit that," he sighed, "But if this whole thing was Mojo and HIM's master plan, that doesn't explain why the Rowdyruff Boys were sick, if they really were as sick as you girls said, and I doubt those three would like to _pretend_ to be sick." By this time their food had arrived and the family began eating.

"That's true," Blossom admitted between bites of her flapjacks.

"But I still wanna know about how Black was made..." Bubbles stated.

"Why don't you ask him yourselves?" the Professor asked.

"We tried, but I don't think he wants to talk about it, not even with this truce," Buttercup answered. The four had finished their food and they waited for the bill, Prof. Utonium had an exxasperated look on his face.

"It doesn't matter anyway, you're giving all of this too much thought," he told them.

"But they're bad guys, you never know what they're going to do," Blossom retorted.

"It's only been a day since this happened, let's just wait and see what happens," their father suggested. The Prof. and the girls left after the bill was paid and they walked outside. As they walked to the car they passed by another resteraunt across the street called the 'Otto-Time Diner.' Blossom stopped flying and looked at it, remembering that HIM owned this breakfast diner.

It seems a bit strange that a demon of high calibur is able to run a fully-functioning resteraunt, but this is Townsville, not an ordinary city by any means. As a lady opened the door to HIM's resteraunt, Blossom could see Mojo Jojo and the four Rowdyruff Boys on bar stools at a counter, with HIM behind it speaking to them. The pink-shirted PPG was tempted to go in there, but as she was about to head for the door, the Professor called her name and she had to go back to her sisters and Dad. "What did I just say Blossom?" he asked seriously.

"I'm giving this too much thought," Blossom sighed.

"And?"

"We should wait and see what happens." Blossom shuffled into the car and the Prof. drove them home. They walked into the house and the sisters returned to their room. "I saw them all at the Otto-Time Diner," Blossom informed her sisters.

"Really? I don't think they saw you, did they?" Bubbles asked.

"No, I only saw a quick glimpse of them anyway," Blossom sighed.

"That must mean Mojo's house is empty..." Buttercup noted with a sly look in her eyes.

"You can't still be thinking about breaking into his house!" Bubbles gasped.

"You remember what the Professor said!" Blossom scolded. Buttercup plopped onto her side of their bed lazily.

"Since they're at the resteraunt, this could be our only chance to answer our questions!" she pointed out.

"What'll we tell the Professor?" Blossom snapped.

"I dunno, tell him the Mayor asked us to fly around the city," Buttercup replied.

"I don't wanna lie to him!" Bubbles whimpered. The green-shirted PPG gave Bubbles a cold stare, which made her quiet.

"Listen, this is gonna be our only chance for a long time and if we get our questions answered we might be able to trust Mojo, HIM, and the Rowdyruff Boys," Buttercup said in a frank voice. Bubbles and Blossom still looked uncertain, so the tough fighter added, "And we'll never have to lie to the Professor again." The other two though, then they nodded their agreement.


	6. Chapter 6: World's Greatest Detectives

Chapter 6:

Right then and there the superheroes flew out of the house, and they could faintly hear Prof. Utonium scream,

"GIRLS! GET BACK HERE!" The Powerpuff Girls hoped in their minds that their father could understand what they were doing. The trio flew high over the city of Townsville, soon they came upon Mojo's lair, the door on the top of the dome was still shattered from when the PPGs busted it down a month before. Bracing themselves, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup flew through the hole.

It was quite clear that Mojo had never come back to his lair after the first three Rowdyruff Boys collapsed. Some books that were scattered around various places in the living room were covered with dust, and there was no sound of any machines running, only the lights were on.

"Well... let's look around," Blossom gulped. The leader stayed in the living room while Bubbles went to the kitchen and Buttercup flew into a bedroom. "Let's call each other when we find something interesting!" Blossom suggested as the others flew away. "IF we find something," she muttered under her breath.

Blossom first checked the bookshevles that were together against a wall, thinking that perhaps there was something behind them like in some movies. First she inspected the books. Most of them clearly belonged to Mojo, with titles like: _Advanced Mechanics_ and _Quantum Physics._ But towards the bottom of each bookcase there were some books that had titles such as: _Mastering Makeup_ and _Innovative Decorating_ that were certainly more for HIM's tastes. Putting this information aside she quickly used her super-strength to push away the bookshelves, but behind was just an ordinary wall.

The pink-shirted heroine moved the shelves back to where they were. She peered under a carpet; no trapdoor. She searched through a pile of newspapers; nothing interesting. Nest she looked through a box of VHS's; just regular movies from the 80's and 90's. Discouraged, Blossom finally opened a drawer of the simian's desk. She shuffled through a mess of pens, pencils, and other useless junk until a piece of paper at the very bottom caught her eye. Blossom pulled out the paper, which had cursive writing so curled it was hard to read.

"This has _got_ to be HIM's handwriting!" Blossom noted. She was about to call her sisters to read with her, but she decided to let them search around some more in the other rooms. Besides the fancy writing, the paper was smeared a bit, as if some water had gotten on it, but Blossom was able to read,

 _Dear Mojo and boys,_

 _I'm sorry I had to leave you so unexpectedly. I've reached a point in my long life where I'm having trouble accepting the way things are for us now, and I have gone away to rest my troubled thoughts. I don't know exactly when I'll come back, but if everything goes the way I hope it does, then I'll be home soon. If things somehow turn out to go wrong for me, then I must tell each of you something:_

 _Brick, I see a natural leader in you, take good care of your brothers. Boomer, learning may be difficult for you but you're more intelligent than you think. Butch, remember what I have told you and you can control your energy. Mojo, I beg of you not to look for me! I'm afraid you all can't witness what I will go through, it is not for the eyes of anyone else. Whatever you do, please don't take this the wrong way, just wait patiently for me, that's the best thing to do right now, and I deeply-_

The letter was too smeared to read from that point on, but Blossom was too depressed from the note to even want to continue reading it. _I think this might be enough information for me,_ Blossom though triumphantly. She stayed in the room, reading the note again and again.

Bubbles was quite certain she'd find something of intrest in the kitchen, like ingredients for creating the perfect evil boys. The heroine opened every pantry only to find cookbooks and cans and boxes of miscillaneous items. Bubbles then opened the refrigerator; just food. She opened the drawers; only sharp cutlery. Next she looked into a microwave; nothing of intrest.

"Why did I come in here, it's just a kitchen!" Bubbles giggles to herself. She was about to leave and join Blossom, but out of curiosity she decided to look into Mojo's oven. Bubbles pulled on a handle, opening the oven and revealing something inside. At first, the food was unrecognizable, but as Bubbles brought it out and put it on the floor, she realized it was a cake! The cake was hard and crusty, the the plate underneath was freezing cold, mold was starting to cover the sides and it smelled wretched, for the cake was old.

The cake itself was probably meant to be a red velvet color, but now it was a disgusting brown. It could have been beautiful, but Mojo and the others never got to finish the cake, whatever it was for. Slightly confused, Bubbles planned to show her sisters the the cake once they were done with their searches. _What is this for? Was it someone's birthday?_ the blue-shirted Powerpuff Girls wondered, hoping her sisters found out anything more.

Buttercup snickered as she realized what the room she was in was: the Rowdyruff Boys' room!

"Oh boy, this is gonna be good!" she laughed. The boys slept on a bunkbed, three beds stacked on top of each other with brackets and pillows to match their colors: Brick was in the middle, Boomer was on the bottom and Butch was on the top. On the walls, papers with drawing of the villains defeating the heroes were taped to the walls here and there, toys were scattered on the floor and clothes were placed lazily on top of some dressers. Buttercup opened up a toy box; ordinary toys. She peered into the drawers of the dressers, only pajamas. She inspected their clothes and laughed.

There were many delightful secrets that made Buttercup grin and learn things about them that she never knew before, but there was nothing that had to do with what the sisters were looking for, much to her frustration. She had looked almost everywhere, except for one place. Buttercup remembered how she would hide things she didn't want her sisters to see under the bed, like embarrassing pictures or teeth from random people. Buttercup got down and looked underneath Boomer's bed.

Indeed, there was a cardboard box under Boomer's bed. The black-haired PPG eagerly brought out the box and parted the lid. There were several objects, they included: a silver-colored diary, a multi-colored folder, and a postcard. Quite pleased with her findings, Buttercup opened and read the diary,

 _Deer Dairy,_

 _HIM left the howse 2day and he left a_ _lovy-dovy letter. Mojos ben crying in his room all day and he still hasnt stoped, and were embaresed to admit it, but we miss HIM 2. He may be prety scary and hes relly weerd, but his powers are cool and hes helped us out a lot, plus he makes prety good flapjacks. Boomer, Butch, and me all think its got sumthing to do with the Powerpuff Girls! Those girls shugar coted heros always HAVE to make us sufer!_

 _But why isnt HIM bringin us along! Its not fayr how hes takin all awr gloree, and thats not lik HIM! Tonsvil isnt beeng destroied, I ges they ar fiting sumwere els. Mojo sez that hell grownd us if we go loking for them bcause HIM said not 2, wich is stoopid. He better com bak soon! -Brick_

"They thought WE made HIM leave?!" Buttercup couldn't help but scoff out loud. She angrily put away the diary and inspected the postcard. Buttercup nearly dropped the card when she realized who it was from: Ace D. Copular, the leader of the annoying but sometimes deadly Gangreen Gang. The tough heroine pushed away her bad memories of having an attraction to the older boy and dared herself to read on.

There was a picture clipped onto the side of the postcard of a tall marble building with a clock at the top. Buttercup was shocked to see Ace, wearing a black suit and tie. Ace still had his shoulder-length lair and sunglasses, yet was almost unrecognizable. Ace was holding a briefcase with one hand and had his other up in the air, he wore a triumphant smile on his face. _Well, here's to the new me. I still wonder how I managed to get into college, I'll be done in 4 years... Maybe. -Ace._

After reading the inscription, Buttercup read the return address, and it read: 12345, Townsville University. Ace was a mean, snarky, delinquent, how could he have gotten into Townsville University, let alone any college! Not wanting to think about it any more, Buttercup discarded the note and turned her attention to the folder. Inside there was one paper, it was a drawing.

The drawing had different styles, so it was probably drawn by all three Rowdyruff Boys. The picture had figures that were crudely illustrated, but Buttercup could tell what it was. There were five people in the drawing all next to each other. They were, in order: Brick, Mojo, HIM, Boomer, and Butch. They all seemed to be holding hands and they were all smiling. This drawing was a contrast to all the others in the room.

They looked so happy, even though all of the boys' other drawings had to do with destruction and violence, this particular piece of art had a peaceful essence to it, like a photograph you'd see on a wall in many families' homes. This picture of the villains make them look like a family.

Buttercup put away the items, suprised by the clues she found, she picked up the box and left the bedroom. Bubbles left the kitchen with the cake in her hands. The two flew to the living room where Blossom was so they could all show each other what they had found, and discuss the evidence.


	7. Chapter 7: Hi Fuzzy, Hi Princess

Chapter 7:

"There you are, it looks like you two have found something too!" Blossom greeted as they entered the room.

"I've got some pretty weird stuff from the Boys," Buttercup confirmed.

"You can go first Blossom!" Bubbles offered. The leader of the Powerpuff Girls read her sisters the letter from HIM all the way until the note became impossible to read. Bubbles showed her sisters the cake and openly pondered about its purpose. Lastly, Buttercup read the Rowdyruff Boys' diary entry, the postcard from Ace, and displayed the brothers' happy drawing.

The Powerpuff Girls stopped talking and spent a few minutes processing the information in their minds. Blossom came up with some hunches first,

"Here's what I think: HIM left for an unknown reason. He was gone, Mojo was extremely upset, and Ace went to college. Mojo and the boys made the cake either as a Welcome Home gift for HIM or a birthday cake for Black, who was probably created while or after HIM was gone. The Rowdyruff Boys wrote the diary entry and drew the picture after HIM left, and they hid it because they were embarrassed at themselves. As for Ace being in college... well, I doubt he has anything to do with this," she theorized.

Her sisters, who were pleased with her deduction, clapped for a few seconds,

"Yeah! That's why they were acting so nice to each other when we came here last month!" Bubbles agreed. Buttercup became silent, biting her lips softly, and the expression in her eyes looked like she was thinking hard about something.

"I think we've found enough information, at least now we have and IDEA of _why_ Black was created," Blossom stated.

"And I think they can keep their promise, right Buttercup?" Bubbles asked the black-haired girl, who changed her expression to one of irritated uncertainty,

"I still have a couple of questions, like: of Mojo and HIM called off the Beat-Alls' reunion, what did Fuzzy and Princess do?"

"They must have gone back to doing what they normally do, I don't think they would've even WANTED to reform the team again!" Blossom pointed out.

"Maybe. But if Ace had nothing to do with anything, how does he know the Rowdyruff Boys?" Buttercup continued, "I have a crazy idea, now listen up!" The other heroines sat on the ground and listened intently, "I have a theory, as you would say, Blossom, that Fuzzy, Princess, and Ace might have some info on how Black was made, we'll go over to Princess' mansion, Fuzzy's log cabin, and Townsville University and we'll interview all them.

"If it looks like they have something intresting, we'll ask them to meet us at a specific time and place where we can share all of our information!" Buttercup's siblings sat there as they thought about her plan, slightly shocked at her uncharacteristic planning.

"Maybe we can do it, but where and when?" Blossom pondered.

"At the front of City Hall so we can let the Mayor know about anything important, and we can do it once we find everybody!" Bubbles suggested cheerfully.

"That's a pretty good idea, let's put away everything we found, then it's off to Princess' mansion!" Blossom announced and the siblings flew away. Blossom placed the letter back in the desk, Bubbles put the moldy cake back in the oven and Buttercup returned the box under the Boys' bed. They decided there was no need to search the rest of the lair. The Powerpuff Girls met each other outside and without speaking set off for Princess Morebucks' mansion.

The PPG's reached Princess' mansion, barely paying attention to the well-kept lawn and beautiful architecture. Once at the front porch, Buttercup pressed the doorbell, and a butler they didn't recognize opened the grand door.

"May I help you?" he sighed.

"Yeah. If Princess Morebucks is home, may we speak with her for a few minutes?" Blossom asked as politely as possible. Suddenly, a voice came from inside, the bratty tone could only belong to Princess.

"Who's at the front door?" she demanded.

"It's the Powerpuff Girls. They wish to speak with you," the butler called back. There was some silence, then there was the noise of footsteps approaching the door, and soon the tiny figure of Princess came out and stopped in front of the Girls,

"You can go back in," she said to her servant who quickly obeyed. Once the four were alone, Princess scoffed, "Alright, make this quick, I want to get my sun tan for today done!"

"We just want to asked you some questions." Bubbles stated. Princess sighed and sat impatiently on the porch.

"Have you been speaking to Mojo or HIM lately in the last month or so?" Buttercup started. Princess jolted in her spot, suprised.

"Yeah! Three weeks ago Mojo called here and apoligized about cheating on the Beat-Alls and he wanted me and Fuzzy to come to HIM's house in a couple of weeks!" she explained.

"What happened?" the heroes asked at the same time.

"This morning Mojo called me again and he had the guts to tell me that he didn't need me or Fuzzy anymore! You don't have _any_ idea how mad I still am! I had all my blasters and cool stuff all ready to kick you guyses butts!" Princess cried, her face red from anger.

"Calm down, is there anything else you can tell us?" Buttercup continued. Princess took a few deep breaths and she confirmed,

"Yeah. Mojo told me about a kid he had that could help us destroy you."

"What else?" Blossom persisted.

"Mojo said that with this kid named Black with us, we could conquer the world and stuff. He also sent me something by mail, I think it might be a blueprint," Princess recalled. The heroines decided in their minds that they would discuss their newest plan to their nemesis.

"If you still have the blue-print, can you bring it over to City Hall?" Blossom explained, "We're thinking of bringing Fuzzy and Ace D. Copular there today because we're trying to solve a mystery and your blueprint might help." Princess Morebucks sat there and thought for awhile. Just as the heroes were getting impatient Princess made up her mind,

"Sure, why not? I'm tired of Mojo being a rotten cheater. If we find out something good, it serves him right!" she snickered, then added, "Don't worry, I'll be at City Hall in no time!" Princess eagerly skipped back into the house. Satisfied, the Powerpuff Girls flew off to Fuzzy's log cabin in the woods just outside of Townsville.

* * *

The heroines landed on Fuzzy's front yard, said enemy sitting on a stool contentedly strumming his banjo. He nearly fell off his stool when he saw the girls on his yard. Angrily, he grabbed his musket that was next to him, he cocked it back and aimed at them,

"Hey! I ain't doin' anything today! You'll be sorry fer even comin' here!" Fuzzy shouted. The girls moved away just as the creature fired, making a big hole in a tree trunk behind them. As Fuzzy was about to cock it again, Buttercup said hurriedly,

"We just want to know if you've been talking to Mojo lately!" Fuzzy Lumpkins hesitated before he answered.

"Mojo showed me how much of a traitor he is. AGAIN! Why in tarnation would ya want to ask?" he retorted.

"Bear with us, it's important. What do you mean by 'traitor?'" Blossom questioned, pretending for now that their conversation with Princess Morebucks had never happened. Fuzzy lowered his musket,

"Well, Mojo called me a while ago, he says 'Hey, you and Princess should come over by HIM's place and we'll do the Beat-Alls thing again,' or somethin' like that, he sounded like he was at his Pa's funeral. So I told him, 'Looks like ya came to yer senses! Sure, why not?'" the pink creature recalled.

"Then what happened?" Bubbles asked. The girls had a pretty good idea of what he was going to say; the angered and dissappointed look in his face told it.

"So I go out and look fer some big rocks that I can squish ya girls with. I found 10 really good ones. I wait patiently fer when I can go to HIM's place, but this mornin' Mojo called me again and he says, 'Sorry, I don't need you now, you can go back to yer business!' An' just when I'm feelin' a bit better, _you_ show up!" Fuzzy grumbled.

He grabbed his musket once more and he fired at Blossom. The bullet bounced right off her, she barely noticed it. Fuzzy yelped in suprise. "Whoops, I forgot you're like that Superman feller!" he chuckled nervously. The girls scowled and Blossom continued,

"We're meeting Princess at City Hall to talk about this, do you have anything from Mojo or HIM you could show us there?" Fuzzy bit his lips as he tried to recall,

"Let's see, after the first time he called me, Mojo sent me this little bottle of somethin' or other. Mojo said it was a thingy that could make ya tougher if ya drank it."

"And why didn't you drink it?" was Blossom's final question.

"I ain't gonna drink some fancy soda pop that monkey made! I'm strong enough already!" Fuzzy boasted before exclaiming with scorn, "Ya want me to bring the fancy soda? Mojo make me awfully mad with his cheatin', now I've had it with that monkey! I'll see you girls later!"

"Thank you!" Bubbles called out as the Powerpuff Girls flew away from the woods with satisfying results.


	8. Chapter 8: Bye Fuzzy, Bye Princess

Chapter 8:

The girls immediatly headed for Townsville University to see if Ace of the Gangreen Gang knew anything. "Maybe he's eating lunch right now," Blossom said.

"I bet he's gonna be really polite and act like a gentlemen!" Bubbles cheerfully wished. The university was more beautiful in person than in a photo, the many windows sparkled as if they were new. The girls flew inside the doors and into the entrance. There were some students walking around with textbooks in their hands, some ignored the triplets while others stared at them with mild suprise. Blossom hovered to one of the students and asked,

"Excuse me, but do you know where the cafeteria is?" the young adult simply pointed north of them, and with a thank you she led her sisters in the direction the man pointed. Once they were in the cafeteria, they searched for a certain young man with green skin. Sure enough, they spotted Ace sitting at a table by himself, eating a baloney sandwich; he wore a different outfit than the jacket he would normally wear in the Gang.

The leader of the Gangreen Gang dropped his sand which and gasped with suprise, his gaze fell upon Buttercup,

"Powerpuff Girls? What are you doing here... how did you know I got here?" he demanded angrily.

"Well, how _did_ you end up here?" Blossom asked calmly. Ace clenched his teeth and trying to contain his fury, threatened,

"That's private... it's none of your buisness; tell me... why... are... you... here...?" The cafeteria was more quiet, and some people were staring at them.

"We wanted to ask if you've been speaking to Mojo or HIM lately," Bubbles said timidly. Ace took a deep breath and let his jaw loosen, he looked a little calmer,

"Mojo wanted me to look after the Rowdyruff Boys, they wouldn't tell me why but they were pretty sad about something... it was weird. So me and the gang would hang out with them, going around town and stuff, then I had to go to college and the others kept looking after the boys." Ace's expression took on a worried look that the triplets had never really seen on the aggressive teenager before.

Ace continued with a sharp intake of breath, "Snake told me over the phone a couple weeks ago the Rowdyruffs were sick, _really_ sick, you wouldn't happen to know how they're doing, would you?"

"For your information, _we_ were the ones who cured Brick, Boomer, AND Butch, we even made a treaty!" Blossom confirmed. With a sigh and a chuckle, Ace said more relieved,

"Oh thank God, I was so worried. Snake also told me about this new kid named Black, he sounds pretty cool, and I hear he's got green skin too, I can't wait to meet him!" _This has gone on long enough,_ all three heroes thought to themselves. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup explained to Ace about their plan to meet at City Hall, and the man clenched his fists,

"So are you saying you don't trust them?" Ace scoffed.

"It's not like we can trust _you_ either, you KNOW that you've lied to us before, we can't just believe any promise that you or the others make!" Buttercup shouted.

"This isn't about me!" Ace responded. He stood up and leaned closer to the girls, and he said with more fury, "You might know the reason why the kids felt like crap back then, but let me tell you somethin', they were so depressed it made me and the _entire_ gang feel that way too, and you know how hard it is to make the Gangreen Gang feel bad for somebody, let alone a few kids!"

The entire cafeteria was silent now, and it seemed like everyone was staring at the four, who didn't pay attention to them.

"If you think I'm gonna betray Mojo and the boys to share their private lives with you then you can think again... now get out... you shouldn't be here..." Ace whispered. Without a word the sisters flew away and burst outside immediately after. Buttercup began sniffing, tears were in her eyes and she faced away from her sisters,

"I think he's right, this whole idea of ours is STUPID! We're the ones breaking the truce!" Bubbles placed her hand on her crying sister's shoulder, who turned around and gently pushed away her hand. Blossom agreed,

"Buttercup... I think he's right too. But Fuzzy and Princess are probably waiting for us, let's just talk to them so they won't get angry." The green-shirted heroine gave Blossom a scowl, but after a minute of silence, Buttercup nodded and together the sisters flew in the direction of City Hall.

* * *

Once there they spotted Fuzzy pacing back and forth on the sidewalk with a bottle in his hands and Princess sitting on the steps of the Mayor's office, staring at what was most likely the blueprint. Upon seeing the Powerpuff Girls, Fuzzy walked closer to Princess who called out,

"My chauffeur's gonna pick me up in 20 minutes, so let's get this over with!" The triplets landed in front of the two on the steps.

"Alright Princess, what's on the blueprint?" Blossom asked. The bratty girl's face became redder and she gripped the blueprint tightly,

"I didn't bother to look at it until now, but now that I have... I've even more mad at Mojo!" she shouted suddenly, making Fuzzy jolt and step away from her, "Look at this! Mojo built a really cool suit for me to wear so I could destroy you, but than he just throws away my chance to impress everybody with my super cool powers!" Princess turned over the blue-print, it looked like armor that would've covered me from head to toe and had an assorsment of hi-tech weaponry.

"Wow! That's so fancy-dandy!" Fuzzy Lumpkins whistled.

"It does look pretty cool," Bubbles admitted. Even Buttercup, who was still pouting looked amazed at the armor.

"Sorry Princess... Fuzzy, did you bring the bottle?" Blossom questioned. The creature nodded and he held up a small transparent bottle with red liquid filling up half of it.

"I didn't drink none of it, 'cause Mojo never told me what it was made of," he informed. Blossom was handed the bottle and she held it.

"Do YOU know why Mojo and HIM called off the Beat-Alls?" Princess Morebucks asked the girls. The heroines decided to finally explain what had happened in the last month. They told their enemies everything from the attack that landed them in the hospital to the truce they made, from the searching of Mojo's lair to their speaking with Fuzzy and Princess as well as Ace's refusal to meet with them. When they were finished the pink hillbilly and the rich young girl stared at them with their jaws to the ground.

Princess's expression changed again to one of anger,

"So YOU were the ones who made them call off the Beat-Alls! I can't believe Mojo and HIM would make peace with you!" she scoffed. Blossom waited for her to calm down, then she asked,

"When Mojo first called you, did he say that you would all have your revenge?" Princess and Fuzzy froze, both of them searching through their memories.

"Yeah... pretty sure he did..." Fuzzy mumbled.

"Did he specifically say you would have your revenge against us?" the commander and leader went on.

"No... no he didn't," Princess replied.

"Then it's exactly what I think it means!" Blossom exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Bubbles inquired. Her sister didn't answer right away, her eyes were closed, her hand on her chin and pacing back and forth in the air. Finally Blossom faced the others,

"Everything, from calling the Beat-Alls to reunite, to building power-armor for Princess and giving Fuzzy a drink to make his stronger was all part of Mojo, HIM, and Black's revenge plan."

No one spoke; Bubbles, Buttercup, Princess, and Fuzzy simply stared at Blossom, "The first 3 Rowdyruff Boys were dying, and the others didn't think they'd be able to save them. I think since they were suffering, they wanted everyone else in Townsville to suffer with them. They probably also wanted to destroy me and my sisters to honor the RRBs, but in the end they wanted to make everyone miserable.

"And in order for them to do it, they contacted Fuzzy and Princess to reunite the Beat-Alls since Mojo and HIM knew they were nearly invincible together, and they gave Fuzzy and Princess the drink and blueprint to further ensure their success. But then we gave the boys Chemical X, and so because they didn't need to seek revenge anymore, they cancelled their plans."

When Blossom finished speaking, everyone remained quiet,

"That kinda makes sense..." Princess said with an impressed tone of voice.

"I don't think Mojo or HIM will be betraying us anytime soon, then," Bubbles noted.

"But there might be another reason for all of this," Buttercup protested.

"Can you think of another reason?" Blossom asked her back. There was a bit of silence, then Fuzzy stated,

"I could ask Mojo 'bout it... but I don't think I need to." Suddenly, a long white limosine drove by and stopped at the road in front of City Hall.

"I guess I'll se you guys later- to fight, I mean," Princess told the other girls. A man opened the door and she stepped inside, soon the vehicle drove out of sight. With a wave of goodbye Fuzzy headed for the woods where his log cabin was, leaving the Powerpuff Girls alone.

"Let's go home, we don't need to report any of this to the Mayor," Blossom sighed.

"But if you're right, then Mojo, HIM, and Black would've destroyed Townsville if the Rowdyruff Boys had died!" Buttercup huffed.

"But I don't think they'd go on with their plans if they had no reason to," Blossom repeated. With that the Girls began flying back in the direction of their home. Not flying at a fast pace, as they flew over the streets, they suddenly stopped, much to their horror they saw the Professor and his car in a parking lot.


	9. Chapter 9: You're In Trouble, Now

Chapter 9:

When he saw them he gave his daughters a cold stare. They wanted to just dash home at the speed of light, but they knew that would only land them into more trouble, so they silently landed in front of their father.

"So, they day we finally get some time to be together without any distractions, my girls spend several hours of it sneaking off, and just when I catch up to you, you fly off to somewhere miles away." All three girls hung their heads down, their faces red with shame, they had forgotten that they left their home without telling the Professor again. "Let me guess... this has to do with Mojo and HIM's family. You still don't trust them?" the Professor asked coldly. "And I don't think I imagined seeing you fly out of Mojo's EMPTY lair..."

By now Bubbles was trying very hard not to let the tears in her eyes run down her face. The Professor held out his hand and Blossom gave him the bottle. Their father began looking closely at the red liquid inside. "Is this what you took from Mojo's lair?" he asked. The Powerpuff Girls abruptly shook their heads.

"We didn't take anything from there, we swear we didn't!" Buttercup whimpered.

"We got it from Fuzzy Lumpkins!" Bubbles added. The Professor sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"It seems like you have a lot to tell me, but we'll do that when we get home," he told them. Together the four got in the car and the Professor began driving back to their neighborhood. Even as the Professor backed up into the driveway, the Girls didn't feel any less guilty, it felt like time had stopped. Their father led the three into the house and pointed his finger at the sisters' room. "When we go to your room, you're going to tell me everything you did today..." the Professor sighed.

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup rushed up the stairs, opened the door and sat on the edge of their bed. The Professor grabbed a stool and sat near the Girls, eyeing the bottle that was still in his hand. The Girls had to force themselves to look directly at their father, who still had a look of mild anger on his face. Taking a deep breath, the heroines began their story.

They explained the items they found while searching Mojo's lair, and their interviewing Princess, Fuzzy, and Ace, who refused to comply. Finally, the girls told the Professor about their meeting with Fuzzy and Princess in front of City Hall, as well as Blossom's theory about Mojo, HIM, and Black's possible plan to destroy Townsville in case the RRBs had died. When the sisters were done, Professor Utonium definetly didn't look angry anymore. "Your theory does make sense, it would explain why they would even bother to reunite the Beat-Alls," he admitted.

"It wasn't right to break into Mojo's lair when he wasn't there!" Bubbles exclaimed.

"Ace really called us out about our hippo-crissy," Buttercup chuckled.

"Hypocrisy," Blossom corrected her sister. The Professor stuffed the bottle into one of his pockets,

"Well, now it really does feel like you've learnt your lesson, are you hungry girls?" he asked. The super heroines nodded and the four of them headed downstairs. The Professor made them hamburgers and the girls felt better about themselves enough to eat. Utonium took out the bottle and observed it some more, "Perhaps I could analyze this serum and see what this is made of, I can hardly even tell what's in this!" he said in an impressed tone.

"But I can do that later," he continued, "I have an idea, how about we visit the Otto-Time Diner and see if Mojo, HIM, and the Rowdyruff Boys are still there?"

"WHAT?!" the girls exclaimed. Professor Utonium began laughing,

"You've made a truce with them, why shouldn't we get together once in a while?" he pointed out.

"You're not gonna make us tell them about what we did today, are you?" Bubbles asked fretfully.

"Only if YOU don't bring it up to them," Utonium replied. The Powerpuffs exchanged nervous glances. "Well, how about we have dinner there in a few hours instead?" their Dad proposed.

"That would be better," Blossom agreed. The other two nodded.

"In the meantime, I'll be in my lab analyzing this serum," the Professor said. He left and the sisters returned to their room to play with some jigsaw puzzles and board games. They didn't speak muck as they played, this went on for about 2 hours when the girls became bored.

"Let's go in the lab and see what he's doing," Blossom suggested. The sisters opened the door and flew downstairs and head for the door to the basement, the room where the Girls were created. When they peeked in the laboratory, they noticed their father sitting at one of his computers, staring at the screen with a clipboard and pencil in his hands, the serum container's cap was off and some very thin tubes that were placed in the container seemed to be connected to his computer. The Professor didn't react when the girls came near him, continueing to stare at the screen.

"Interesting..." he mumbled to himself.

"What did you find out?" Blossom asked quietly.

"This serum... might just be Black's DNA mixed with water," he chuckled. When Bubbles attempted to decipher the data shown on the screen it left her head aching. "5% of it is Chemical X for certain, but the rest besides the hydrogen and oxygen is literally unrecognizable," their father said.

"I think it was supposed to be a weird steroid for Fuzzy?" Buttercup recalled.

"Yes. You know, now that I know this is his DNA, I suppose it's rude of me to be analyzing it," Utonium sighed and continued in a more cheerful tone, "Are you ready to go to the Diner?" The heroines shuddered.

"Last time you went you said you were never gonna go back there again!" Bubbles pointed out nervously. The Professor laughed and walked out of the basement.

"C'mon girls, we shouldn't act like this when we get there," Blossom said taking a deep breath. The 3 rushed out of the room and joined the Professor in his car.

"I know you're still nervous, do what I do when _I'm_ nervous, take a deep breath... and exhale," he suggested while demonstrating his technique. "I'm sure everything will go smoothly girls," he added with a smile. Blossom was the only one to try the breathing excersice and so looked much calmer compared to Bubbles and Buttercup. "I called them a while ago, they know we're coming, HIM said he'd close the resteraunt when we get there so we can eat together in privacy," their father explained. The girls tried to imagine eating dinner in HIM or Mojo's lair, and couldn't picture it.

Eventually the Professor had driven into Townsville and parked in front of the Otto-Time Diner. He got out of the car and started heading for the door, but he turned around when he noticed his daughters weren't following him. He opened one of the doors to find the PPGs still in their seats. Blossom and Bubbles quickly exited the vehicle but Buttercup stayed in her seat,

"Professor... I'm scared." Her father held her hand,

"I'm a bit nervous too," he admitted, "And I know it will be hard to adjust to all this and it must be hard for them too," he said, "But think about how much more time we can spend together now, doesn't that sound nice Buttercup?" The green PPG nodded and got out of the car. She let go of the Professor's hand and held Blossom's hand, and Bubbles held Blossom's other hand, together the 4 walked closer to the diner's entrance.


	10. Chapter 10: EATING DINNER

Chapter 10:

Just as Utonium was about to open the door Mojo Jojo himself from inside the resteraunt pushed it open. He continued standing in the entranceway and gave them a little smile, a nervous but genuine one. "We are-ahem-ready for this celebration which-which is not on a holiday but-but this is still a worthy cause for-for..." Mojo began blushing and stammered so much the sentence became incoherent.

"Thank you, Mojo," the Professor told him. The five entered the diner together. HIM's resteraunt was unchanged since the last time they came, the Rowdyruff Boys, Black, and HIM were sitting together in the seats at the bar counter and Mojo sat in the empty seat between HIM and Brick. The Professor sat next to Black and the girls sat in the seats next to their father.

 _"Well... why don't you look and see what you want?"_ HIM suggested as he passed Professor and the girls menues. The Girls hesitated before taking the menues. _It would be very rude not to eat here,_ Blossom reminded herself as she began looking at the options. After placing their orders HIM stood up and walked to the kitchen in the back.

"Well, Mojo, now that we've made peace with each other... how would you like to work with me in my lab again?" the Professor asked. Everyone at the counter stared at him in disbelief. "*Ahem!* I didn't mean you _had_ to, I was just wondering if you were interested," Utonium added. The simian chuckled and answered,

"I appreciate your asking, I must admit it is a fine idea, but I would prefer not to, if you are not disappointed, if you are, I do apologize for my answer."

"It isn't a problem at all," the Professor stated, and then asked another question that nearly knocked the children out of their seats: "Are you and HIM planning on the Boys going to school in the fall?" The Powerpuff Girls gasped and the Rowdyruff Boys shouted simultaneously,

"WHAT?" Black snickered at their reactions.

"You said you were gonna homeschool us!" Brick protested,

"We're not ready!" Boomer cried,

"You _liar!"_ Butch growled as he began to shake slightly as he usually did whenever he became energetic.

"We have not decided yet, HIM and I have yet to come to a conclusion. We will discuss this later," Mojo replied while giving his elder sons a stern face. Then, Black leaned towards his brothers and they crowded around him as he whispered something to them, the Girls unable to hear a word. A few moments later, Brick, Boomer and Butch began laughing out loud.

"You know what? School doesn't sound so bad after all!" Brick informed Mojo.

"Why not?" Blossom questioned. The four boys simply smiled without saying another word. _Just ignore them..._ Blossom was growing more irritated, but she was able to keep calm, unlike her sisters who gave the boys a mean look.

More time passed in silence, at least 20 minutes.

"HIM, what's taking so long?" Boomer shouted.

"He's cooking for ten people at once all by himself," the Professor reminded the Rowdyruff.

"But he's really fast," the blue-shirted RRB retorted. They waited for a response from the demon but they heard nothing, in fact they realized there was not a single sound of even grills or ovens in the back of the diner. Mojo got up from his seat and trudged over to the other side of the counter. From where she was sitting, Buttercup could see the simian walk past a door that said Employees Only; just then HIM opened the door and hastily shut it.

 _"I'm so sorry for the wait, I was just checking my inventory, I wasn't sure if I had everything I needed,"_ he explained. HIM gave the slightly confused Mojo a reassuring smile, and Mojo gave him a small smile in return as he went back to his seat. Blossom realized that HIM had visible sweat beads on his forehead and was breathing somewhat heavily, but she reasoned with herself that it was early August and the diner lacked a form of air conditioning... not that HIM should have been affected...

Right away HIM began cooking the food and to the hungry children's relief he was finished very soon. HIM had the plates of food on a long tray that he passed out to everyone. When the Girls recieved their food they didn't eat right away. They stared at the sandwiches they ordered so they could eat and hopefully get out of the diner faster.

Blossom glanced at Mojo Jojo, remembering the vast amount of robots and machines he would use to try to take over Townsville. Bubbles gazed at HIM, trying to push away the memories of the demon and his attempts to mentally scar the siblings, some of which succeeded. Buttercup avoided making eye contact with the first 3 Rowdyruff Boys as the recalled the feelings of hopelessness she felt when they battled each other for the first time and the Boys had the upper hand.

Finally, the Powerpuff Girls looked at Black, the one who gave them the burns on certain parts of their body. They remembered one time in the hospital a doctor told the Professor, 'Most of the burns and scars will fade away as they grow older... but some around the back and chest area may be permanent.' In their minds the sisters asked themselves, _How did we get here?_ Their father cleared his throat while looking at them sternly and cautiously the Girls took a bite out of their sandwiches.

 _Did HIM really make this?_ Bubbles wondered to herself as the Girls realized the food was actually quite delicious.

"This is pretty good!" Blossom admitted out loud.

 _"I'm glad you like it,"_ HIM replied and then suggested to the Professor, _"Maybe your visits here to eat with us could become a regular... custom of sorts?"_ Please say no, please say no, please say no... Buttercup prayed in her mind.

"Well... it's something for me to consider," Utonium replied, and the tough PPG breathed a small sigh of relief. Utonium gazed at Black and asked, "So, Black... are you planning on doing anything with your brothers tomorrow?" Brick interuppted his brother before he could speak,

"We're gonna hang out with the Gangreen Gang!" he said.

"Are they gonna have to be friends with the Powerpuff Girls too?" When Boomer asked this question his fathers did not answer right away.

"I do not think they would be able to adjust enough, they are still juvenile deliquents, troublemakers, that is what they are!" Mojo stated. "Still, I am grateful for them, I am thankful for their assistance. They were there for the boys during times of great stress and worry, when I could not properly take care of them, and even when my sons were ill the Gangreen Gang were there to-" HIM put a claw over the simian's mouth to silence him.

 _"Then it's good that one of them went to college. Maybe they'll have a place to go to when they get older... who was it that left?"_ HIM asked.

"Ace!" the boys replied.

"Yes, that's right," HIM then explained to the Professor, _"We're really not sure how he did it, but I hear the Mayor is involved, its something about a new government program."_

"Interesting..." Utonium sighed and the Girls nodded. Not too long after that the Professor decided it was time for he and the girls to leave.

"If it were not for the Powerpuff Girls' aid, we would not be here now, all ten of us, together," Mojo said cheerfully. He reached his hand to the Professor and the two of them shook hands. Utonium pulled out his wallet but HIM interuppted,

 _"You don't have to pay a thing... but your girls will have to solve some riddles for me!"_ He laughed at his joke and Utonium gave HIM a nervous grin. From the corner of their eyes the sisters could see Black waving goodbye to them as they left the diner, but his brothers looked at him as if he was crazy. The four got into the car and Utonium began his drive back to the suburbs.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked his daughters.

"It went way better than I thought it would," Blossom admitted.

"But do we have to do it again?" Buttercup groaned.

"I'm still thinking about it, but if we do, it won't be so soon," their father replied. Some time went by in silence, then the Professor noted, "Black didn't speak much while we were there, maybe he's shy..."

"He didn't act like that last time we saw him," Bubbles said.

"Well then... I guess his was nervous, we were all nervous." It was 7:30 but it was still bright outside.

"How long were we there?" Bubbles asked.

"I'd say about three hours," the Professor answered, "but it didn't feel like it, did it?"

"It felt longer to _me!_ " Buttercup muttered. The Professor parked his car into the garage and they walked into the house.

"Would you like to watch a movie?" their father asked.

"OK!" the Girls agreed and the Professor went into the kitchen to make popcorn. Soon the four of them were sitting together in the living room, watching _Yellow Submarine._

"I wonder what the others are doing now..." the Professor said quietly. At nine o' clock he turned off the television set and the sisters got ready for bed. When the Professor tucked them into bed and left the room, all three Girls slept soundly for the first time in weeks.

 **A.N. I actually kind of like what I did in this chapter, how the PPGs are uncomfortable eating dinner with these former villains, and I kind of wish I explored that a bit more. Oh well. Hang in there guys, things are gonna get more interesting in another couple of chapters.**


	11. Chapter 11: Not Play, Hang Out!

Chapter 11:

In the morning the Girls and the Professor were in the kitchen eating breakfast. "I was thinking maybe today we could go to the beach," Utonium suggested. Before the Girls could enthusiastically shout their aggreement the doorbell rang and their father got up to answer it. He opened the door and the sisters could hear him greet in a nervous voice, "Oh! Hello Black..."

The Powerpuff Girls froze in their spots, they slowly rose from their seats and flew behind the Professor. They could see Black was standing on the front porch, and his brothers were sitting on the lawn behind him with a grouchy expression on each of their faces.

"Good morning, Mr. Utonium!" the boy greeted back, "We were wondering if the Girls could play with us and the Gangreen Gang." Brick did a facepalm and he shouted at his brother,

"You're supposed to say 'hang out!' Were you born yesterday?"

"Wasn't he born last month?" Boomer pointed out. The leader of the RRBs' face grew red and without warning he punched his blond brother. Brick and Boomer began wrestling each other to the ground and Butch eagerly joined the brawl. The Professor stared at the fighting boys, speechless, with his mouth open.

"Will...Mojo or HIM be with you?" he was finally able to ask.

"No," stated Black, "If you're worried the Gang will make them do something bad, I'd be happy to punch them for you!" The Professor's eyes widened.

"I-I don't think that'll be needed..." he chuckled. "Could you wait for a minute? I have to discuss this with the Girls." The green-skinned boy nodded and the Professor closed the door. He faced his daughters with an irritated expression on his face. "I don't know what that boy's thinking! There's no way I'd let you spend time with the Gangreen Gang without adult supervision!" he whispered through gritted teeth.

"I think we _should_ go with the Rowdyruff Boys," Blossom stated.

"Are you crazy?!" Bubbles and Buttercup exclaimed.

"We could see for ourselves if the Gang looks like they could be a part of the truce..." the pink-shirted PPG pointed out. The others looked thoughtful, but still uncertain. Blossom added, "Ace shouldn't be with them. Without him they don't really know what to do, and if they threaten us we can easily take care of them, right Professor?" Utonium sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I guess... when you put it that way... it doesn't sound so bad,"

"As long as Ace isn't there, I'll be fine," Buttercup said.

"And Black will punch them if they misbehave!" Bubbles giggled.

"You probably don't want me to come with you," the Professor guessed. Blossom nodded. "Are you scared I'll embarrass you?" Utonium asked in a playful tone.

"Well..." the Professor gave her a friendly poke on the belly and opened the door again.

"They've agreed to go with you," he informed Black, "You'll have to wait a few minutes for them to get dressed." Black smiled but behind him his brothers, who had stopped fighting, groaned. "Would you boys like an ice pack?" asked Utonium.

"NO!" the Rowdyruff Boys answered rudely while rubbing the bruises on their faces. The sisters hurriedly finished their breakfast and dashed into their room to put on their regular clothes. When they came back to the kitchen their father was putting some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into plastic bags which he then put into the girls' lunch boxes. He handed them the boxes and gave Blossom a 10 dollar bill.

"They said you'd all be going to the arcade," the Professor explained. Each of the girls hugged their father and said goodbye.

"Don't worry, we'll be careful!" Bubbles reassured Utonium, who opened the front door once again.

"Have fun! Girls, I'll check up on you around noon!" he called out as the seven children rose up in the air and flew away from the house.

"The Gang said they'd have a suprise for us when we get there," Black told the sisters.

"I don't like the sound of that!" Buttercup stated.

"Why, do you think it's it's a bomb or something?" Brick snickered. The seven flew into the city, looking downward trying to find the arcade. Upon finding the arcade they landed at the entrance and walked inside. Inside hanging around the consoles were Snake, Big Billy, Lil' Arturo, and Grubber of the Gangreen Gang. When they saw the Powerpuff Girls they didn't say anything but gave them cold stares. However, when they saw the Rowdyruff Boys the Gang ran to them and gave them high-fives.

"HIM and Mojo said you guys were with us when we were sick!" Boomer greeted cheerfully. The Gang nodded their heads.

"I didn't notice you at all!" Butch said almost quietly. Billy looked in Black's direction, and Black waved at him shyly.

"Hey! It's that green kid again!" Billy shouted in a confused voice.

"That'sss Black. He'sss their new brother, remember?" Snake explained.

"So, what's the suprise?" Brick asked.

"He should be here any moment now!" Arturo informed the red-shirted boy. Before the girls could ask who they were talking about, someone walked through the door.


	12. Chapter 12: Bye Gangreen Gang

Chapter 12:

"ACE!" the Boys the the Gang exclaimed. And there he was, wearing his regular jacket. You couldn't even tell he spent time in college at all. The Rowdyruff Boys and the Gang rushed to Ace and gave him hugs and high-fives while the sisters stood around awkwardly.

"I don't want to be here anymore!" Buttercup whispered to Blossom who reminded her,

"We have to stay, to be polite!"

"I hope he doesn't yell at us..." Bubbles added. The sisters tried to make eye contact with Ace, who scolded the RRBs in a playful voice,

"You guys scared me to death when I heard about you!" Blossom cleared her throat and the others stared at her.

"So... Ace. Um, aren't you supposed to be at the university?" she asked uncertainly.

"I don't have any classes today," the young adult replied, "I wanted to see my friends. There's nothing _wrong_ with that, is there?" The heroines couldn't see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but they knew he was staring at them, no doubt remembering their arguement the other day. The sisters shook their heads and hovered to the change machine. While Blossom inserted the money Bubbles and Buttercup were glancing at the boys, Butch was introducing Black to Ace. "I heard a lot about you," Ace greeted. Black's face grew redder,

"Ah! Well..." Ace patted Black on the back, and Snake took out a plastic bag filled with quarters.

"Those quarters are yours, right?" Ace asked.

"Yesss..." Snake and the others looked confused. The Rowdyruff Boys and the Gangreen Gang walked closer to the consoles.

"I don't know how to play video games," Black admitted.

"We'll teach you," Brick offered, "It's like a movie, but you're doing the action!"

"I haven't watched a movie yet..." Black sighed. The sisters began to play against each other while observing the boys and teens out of the corners of their eyes. Brick, Boomer, and Butch were trying to teach Black how to play some games, and every time Black made a mistake Brick would grow more and more frustrated,

"No, no, NO! Don't push the button yet! Move the other way! You lost AGAIN!" Boomer and Butch, however, didn't seem to care and Black, with his bright face, was enjoying himself. Eventually Ace helped Black out, and he was a decidedly better teacher than Brick. A few hours later, long after the girls ran out of quarters and exchanged their tickets for prizes, they decided to eat lunch. Since it was getting crowded at the arcade Ace suggested they should eat at the park.

"We didn't tell the Professor we'd be going anywhere else," Buttercup protested. Blossom nudged her and Bubbles with her elbow and pointed at a window. They gasped quietly when they saw the Professor's car outside.

"Could you wait a minute?" Blossom asked hurriedly, "We gotta take care of something." Without waiting for an answer the triplets flew out of the arcade. They hovered over to their father's car and stopped in front of it. Utonium got out of the car with a sly smile on his face.

"Oh, hello girls! Are you having fun?" he asked innocently. The Girls were made at him at first, but when he asked the question they all let out a sigh.

"I guess..." Buttercup admitted, "But it feels really akward!"

"Yes, so Ace came after all..." the Professor noted, then offered, "If you're really not having fun, I could take you home." There was some silence, then Blossom answered,

"We _are_ having fun! We were just gonna go to the park to eat our lunch, if that's OK with you." Utonium nodded,

"That's fine," he said, "you can come home when you're hungry for dinner." As he got back in the car, Utonium added slyly, "Don't worry, I won't follow you again," and drove away. Just then they noticed the Rowdyruff Boys and the Gangreen Gang walking out of the arcade.

"Was that your old man?" Ace asked.

"He followed you here!" Boomer snickered.

"You shut up!" Bubbles shouted, then blushed after she said so.

"Um... you guys can come to the park, right?" Black asked hurriedly. The sisters nodded and they began walking down the streets (or flying). After walking a few blocks they strolled into the city park. The Boys and the Gang bought hot dogs from a stand and they all sat at a few picnic tables. The sisters didn't speak to the others, every once in a while Black would bring them up in a conversation and the Girls would change the subject. When they were all finished eating, Billy complained,

"I want ice cream!" Snake brought out the plastic bag.

"We're all out of money," he said.

"I want ice cream too!" Lil' Arturo whined. Grubber blew rasberries and nodded. Snake, Lil' Arturo, Billy, and Grubber looked longingly at the ice cream stand. The four of them stood up and began walking to it, before the Powerpuff Girls could go after them and scold them, someone beat them to it.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Ace screamed at them. The rest of the Gang turned around and everyone else looked at them in shock. "Were you guys gonna STEAL the ice cream?" Ace asked, his voice low and threatening. The other members of the Gang began to quiver.

"Ace, what'sss happened to you?" Snake asked back.

"What do you mean?"

"You're usually OK with it," Snake said quietly, "I mean, you're alwaysss the one who sssaysss we should do it." Ace let out a long sigh,

"Listen guys... I gotta tell you stuff you're not gonna like."

"So you're leaving?" Boomer asked.

"Yeah," Ace replied, "but it was fun, we'll see you guys later." The rest of the Gang looked like they wanted to say something back to Ace, but they were too astounded to even make a sound besides a few grunts. Ace waved goodbye to the children as he led the Gang out of the park.


	13. Chapter 13: Express Elevator

Chapter 13:

"I wonder what happened to Ace while he was gone..." Brick said, breaking the silence.

"Why do you care?" Buttercup muttered.

"I don't; but before he left he'd always want us and and Gang to steal somebody's money, and stuff like that."

"And did you?" Black asked in a worried voice.

"No," the older Rowdyruff Boys said simultaneously, "We weren't in the mood..." Boomer added. A while went by in more silence, then suddenly the Rowdyruff Boys started flying around the park playing tag. Black, however, got up from his picnic table and sat in the empty seat next to Buttercup.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked. The girls shook their heads. "You guys didn't look like you were having fun..." Black said.

"We were!" Blossom reassured him, "It's just that... well...um..." she began stammering and Black guessed her thoughts,

"It was me and my brothers?"

"Ace made us feel akward," Buttercup admitted, "but you're kinda right." For a few minutes the four didn't speak, then Black broke the silence by asking,

"So...what did you do after we fought at Mojo's lair?" The sisters didn't answer. The others must have been so wrapped up in the Rowdyruff Boys' sickness they didn't care to finish the Girls off after seriously wounding them.

"We were in the hospital..." Bubbles replied in a voice that was almost a whisper. Black's eyes widened and the girls could see tears welling up in them. He took deep breaths.

"I-I didn't know I h-hurt you that much!" he gasped. Without warning the boys began sobbing and he buried his face in his arms as he brought his feet onto the bench. The other boys stopped playing their game and landed next to Black.

"What are you crying about?" Brick asked in a rude tone of voice. Black quieted down and wiped away the tears on his face. He stood up and glared at his brothers with a fury the girls had never seen before, his breathing became more deep and he clenched his teeth with his fangs clearly shown.

"They... were in the hospital... we put them there..." And then, Brick made the horrible mistake of answering,

"So? We were supposed to destroy them." With a scream Black lunged at Brick, pushing him onto the ground with one hand on Brick's neck and the other on his chest,

 _"We. Nearly. Killed them!"_ Black's voice was similar to the tone he used when the Girls tried to ask him how he was created, except this time the echoes were louder and deeper. The the others' horror his eyes were glowing red and his fangs seemed to grow longer. The Powerpuff Girls, Boomer, and Butch just stood in their places with frightened awe. Even Brick was staring into Black's eyes with more shock than fear.

Finally Buttercup and Butch grabbed Black by the arms and pulled him away from Brick, who immediately crawled away and began coughing and gasping for air. Buttercup and Butch held onto the boy firmly, and the glow in his eyes faded and his fangs shrunk back to their normal size. The two loosened their grip on him. Black sank to the ground and buried his face into his arms again.

"I'm sorry..." he sighed, "I don't know what came over me..." Brick stood up and faced the Powerpuff Girls,

"Well, how were we supposed to know?" he pointed out, "I mean, we spent all July in HIM's house!"

"I guess that makes us even," Blossom chuckled. Meanwhile, Bubbles was trying to comfort Black.

"It's okay!" she reassured him, "We're all better now!" Black shook his head.

"When they attacked you, I attacked you too because I wanted to make my family proud of me! But-" he was interuppted when Bubbles gave him a hug and he stopped crying.

"See? You had nothing to cry about!" Brick said to his brother. Buttercup gave him a mean glare and folded her arms.

"You guys gotta work on apologizing!" she scolded the three older boys, "And so does Mojo and HIM! Their apology about last month wasn't very good!" Black finally stood up.

"They'll learn how to, our fathers haven't gotten used to being good again," he explained, "You know Mojo used to work for the Professor, and a long time ago HIM wasn't the way he is today." The other six stared at Black with disbelief.

"I don't believe HIM was _ever_ good!" Blossom scoffed.

"That's what he told me," Black replied, "But that's all I know about it." Then his face took on a worried look. "HIM!" he exclaimed, "I have to tell HIM about my... outburst..."

"We don't have to if you don't want to," Boomer offered.

"No! I have to, or else it'll happen again," Black stated.

"Well, he should be at the diner," Brick sighed, and the four boys began flying away. The Powerpuff Girls hesitated.

"You can come too!" Black called out to them, and the sisters joined them. As they flew away from the park, the Girls couldn't help but look at Black. _He's changed so much,_ Blossom thought to herself. This boy, who was a quiet and articulate child the first time they met him, was now like a landmine just waiting to explode with a light touch.

Once they arrived, they flew through the doors and stopped in the waiting area.

"Hey! Nobody's here!" Butch shouted. They eyed a sign outdoors that was turned to read CLOSED.

"It's Saturday, right?" asked Black.

"Yeah."

"HIM should have the Diner open today," Black said worriedly.

"You're overeacting," Brick scoffed. The Boys began looking around the diner, calling their father's name.

"Let's go help them," Blossom said to her sisters. The seven checked the kitchen, HIM's office and even the bathrooms, but the demon was nowhere in sight.

"He's probably helping Mojo clean his lair," Black reasoned with his brothers.

"That's probably it..." Black admitted. Brick, Butch, and Black were heading out of the diner except Boomer. The blond Rowdyruff Boy was looking at the door near the kitchen with the words Employees Only printed on it.

"Hey! We haven't checked in here yet!" Boomer called out to his brothers, who crowded around the door.

"Ooo! We've never been in there before," Butch said excitedly. Boomer was about to reach for the doorknob, but Blossom slapped his hand away.

"What do you think you're doing?" she scolded Boomer, "You're probably not allowed in there!"

"Maybe what he means by employee is family!" Brick pointed out, saying the word 'family' as if he had heard it for the first time. Brick proceeded to open the door.

"Still, we might get into trouble!" Black warned them. Brick ignored him and opened the door. As the door swung open, the elder RRBs each wore a confused look on their faces, and the other children couldn't help but join the boys.

Inside was a drab, empty hallway. The strangest thing about the hallway was that it was longer than possible in the diner, at the end they could see nothing but a bright, white light. The seven stared at the light, almost entranced by it. Without a word they hovered through the hall. As it was a slim hall, they went through it in a single-file line, with Brick in the lead. When they got to the end of the hall, another sight startled them.

"Where are we?!" Bubbles gasped. They were surrounded by a completely white landscape what was certainly more expansive than HIM's entire diner. In front of them was a towering, metal gate that appeared to make a circle around a chunk of the landscape.

"C'mon, let's see what's in there!" Brick shouted to the others as he began flying toward the gate. The Powerpuff Girls snapped out of the daze they were in as Boomer and Butch began to follow their brother.

"Don't you get it?" Blossom called out to them.

"HIM doesn't want us to be here, why else would he try to hide it?!" Black added. The other boys stopped flying, then Brick turned to them, shouting,

"Maybe you're right, but he's keeping secrets from us!" The older Rowdyruff Boys continued flying, but Black and the Girls didn't follow.

"I don't know about you guys, but I wanna see what's behind the gate!" Buttercup stated as she flew after the boys.

"Buttercup, wait!" Bubbles exclaimed, then she, Blossom, and Black rushed to the gate.

"There's an elevator in there!" Butch informed the others when they joined the boys. Black and the heroines stared through the gaps of the gate, and indeed the only thing within the perimeter of the gate was an elevator. Buttercup and the Rowdyruff Boys flew over the gate, her sisters and Black reluctantly followed. When all seven children were in front of the elevator, Brick pushed a button-the only button- after a few seconds the doors slid open accompayed by a little *ding* sound. All of the kids continued to float there.

"It looks like it'd be crowded..." Bubbles noted.

"We can fit everybody!" Brick retorted. Blossom, Bubbles, and Black flew in and crowded around near the roof of the elevator and Buttercup, Brick, Boomer, and Butch stood on the floor. The height of the elevator wasn't much taller than HIM.

"OK, everybody's in," Blossom said, taking a deep breath. Butch pushed a button with an arrow pointing down.


	14. Chapter 14: To Heck

Chapter 14:

Just then, Boomer spotted a red handle that was attached to the floor.

"What's that for?" he asked. Before anyone could answer, the elevator, as if it were being pulled by a string, descended at such a sharp speed Blossom, Bubbles, Black, and Butch were unwillingly pulled onto the roof, bumping each other's waists and heads, screaming as they rose. Right when the elevator started falling Buttercup managed to grab the handle, and found herself holding onto it for dear life. Brick and Boomer were not so lucky, they fell onto the others on the roof, Boomer fell on top of Bubbles and Brick landed on top of Black.

The elevator seemed to fall faster and faster, and soon the children's screams were drowned out as the elevator made various screeching noises. All of the children except Buttercup were practically glued to the roof, and they had all stopped screaming since they could barely even breath. Sweat poured down Buttercup's face as she struggled to hold onto the handle, but her hands her aching and sore, it took all of her energy to hold on. Just as her hands were starting to slip the elevator came to a halt as suddenly as it had started, and the others crashed onto the floor.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Buttercup gasped.

"Because you didn't get hurt!" Brick muttered.

"If we didn't have superpowers, we would've..." Blossom trailed off and made a grimace.

"I wanna do it again!" Butch exclaimed. The doors of the elevator opened and the seven crawled out of it gasping for air. Bubbles rubbed a scrape on the side of her head.

"Bubbles, are you OK?" Blossom asked her sister.

"I'm sorry, I think it was my fault," Black apologized. Bubbles gave him a little smile. They looked around their surroundings and realized it was very different from the area they were in before. The entire space was covered in a thin, blood red mist. They were all standing on a levitating chunk of land, and around them were others like it in different sizes.

"This place... it's familiar..." Black said in a quiet voice.

"It kinda looks like HIM's place, but I don't remember it being foggy," Boomer recalled.

"Ugh! Remember when we had to SLEEP there?" Brick groaned nervously, "And HIM always kept us from going too far away from our room!"

"Yeah, yeah! He was always like, 'You can't go further south than your beds without my supervision, you can get get lost!" Butch added. The children continued to look around in silence.

"Do you guys hear something? It's coming from down there," Boomer called out. He was at the edge of the ground looking and pointing downward. The others hovered next to Boomer and stared into the infinite abyss below them. Faint, disturbing sounds could be heard that resembled screaming, although the source of the cries was impossible to see.

"So," Brick started, breaking the silence, "You guys wanna go on?" Everyone else looked at him nervously.

"We could get lost!" Black protested.

"We're just gonna try to find HIM," the red-shirted Rowdyruff Boy reassured, "Don't you want to tell HIM about what happened?" Black sighed and they started flying to the nearest piece of levitating land, with Buttercup and Blossom having to pull the frightened Bubbles along.

"I don't wanna be here anymore!" she whispered. Blossom whispered back,

"I'll be okay, we just have to stick together." The seven of them flew at a leisurely pace in the air. The strange, otherworldly dimension they were in seemed to go on forever, the floating lands made it feel like they were going in circles, although they had been traveling in one direction the whole time. The only other signs of life were the disturbing screams that never changed in volume.

After a while, Black asked his brothers,

"Do you mind if we turn around now?" To the girls' suprise, the others didn't protest and looked a bit relieved at the question. However, the moment they all turned around, the sound of laughter-raspy and maniacal-echoed behind them. The Powerpuff Girls bunched together and held onto each other, the Rowdyruff Boys did the same. Slowly they turned back and tried to spot the source of the laugher, but the mist was thicker in this area.

"W-who was that?!" Bubbles asked, her voice shaking.

"It wasn't HIM..." Black answered quietly. Without a word the children, who were all huddled together, slowly began to hover closer to the origin of the laughter. It's hard to explain why they chose to get closer to the laughter, which had ceased but still rang in their ears, for the Rowdyruff Boys it could be blamed on curiosity. As for the Powerpuff Girls...

 _That voice..._ Blossom thought to herself, _It's so familiar, but I can't put my finger on it._ They hadn't flown far when they noticed a space that was completely free of fog, like a bubble. The seven landed on the ground in front of them and hid behind a wide boulder with only their heads peeking out. Only several feet in front of them was yet another piece of levitating land, this one far larger than the rest.

Within the mist-free bubble was HIM, pacing back and forth. His presence however, was startling. He wore a long, black robe that hid his feet, and he wore no makeup. The children couldn't help but lean forward, hoping the mist would continue to hide them. In front of HIM was a tall, upright slab of stone. A man was attached to the slab, chains were on his wrists and ankles. He wore no shirt and that bottom of his pants were torn, he looked deathly thin, yet he was grinning, his dirty blond hair went below his shoulders and ratted bangs covered his eyes.

 _No... No! It can't be!_ Thought all three sisters as they realized who the man was, but all the brothers except Black were staring at the man, confused. Finally, the man spoke to HIM in a hoarse voice, between small coughing fits,

"What have I done now?" he spoke in a falsely innocent voice, and the Powerpuff Girls, with reality dawning on them, stared in shock at Professor Dick Hardly.


	15. Chapter 15: Now There's Torture

**A.N. Heads up, guys, this chapter gets pretty violent. It's not the best written violence, but I thought I'd warn you just in case.**

Chapter 15:

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup almost smirked at the thought of Dick Hardly recieving the punishment he deserved after all the cruel things he had done to them, the Professor, and the deformed clones of the heroines created to make a quick buck. The Girls never knew for sure if Hardly was killed after the labrotory he worked in collapsed.

"Who's that?" asked Butch, who was silenced after Buttercup covered his mouth with her hand. They looked at HIM, who had stopped pacing around,

 _"You believe you can play games on my mind for your own benefit,"_ HIM began, _"But if you think you're the first to try to do so, you're sadly mistaken."_ It was jarring to hear the demon speak in a deeper voice than usual. Dick's grin widened,

"You're scared to admit I'm right!" he chuckled, "What happened to His Infernal Majesty? The one so fearsome his true name strikes fear into the hearts of men?" HIM stared at Hardly, looking like we was trying very hard to contain his fury.

 _"I have abandoned that title,"_ HIM explained, _"And now I am dedicated to punishing those who have committed sins in their life which place them lower than myself."_

"Yes, I realize that. But I never expected you to become a family man!" HIM's eyes began to glow emerald green, he scowled and clenched his claws. A lava-like substance appeared on Dick Hardly's shackles, and he winced as it trickled down his arms and feet. However, instead of screaming in agony, Dick just threw back his head and howled with laughter. The laughter that echoed in the air wasn't what shocked the children.

When Dick threw back his head the hair on his face parted, and his eyes-or the lack of them-were clearly shown. Claw-marks extended from the gaping holes where his eyes should have been. Suddenly, the lava vanished from Hardly's body, leaving behind no visible wounds, his laughing stopped when HIM ran and gripped his right arm. Dick continued to smile, as if he was anticipating whatever HIM would do.

HIM gripped Hardly's left arm with his other claw and tightened his grip on both. Blood dripped from the man's arms and he began to chuckle. HIM tightened his grip more and the blood flow increased. Bubbles mouthed the words 'I'm not feeling good' to her sisters. Black stared at Hardly with rage and his brothers held onto his shoulders. HIM gripped Hardly's arms even tighter, and small snapping sounds could be heard.

"Go ahead!" Dick gasped, "Rip them off for all I care, take my ears, take my tongue! You've already got my eyes." Hesitantly, HIM let go of Dick's arms, and the children's gaze fell upon his claws that were dripping with blood. He gave Hardly a tiny smirk and his eyes glowed once more,

 _"That's actually not a bad idea... it would be my pleasure..."_ HIM reached out one claw and shoved it into Hardly's mouth, Hardly looked genuinly afraid for once. As HIM squeezed his claw tighter, blood and saliva drooled from Hardly's mouth; he laughed nervously and shook his head,

"I-I wah juh kiddeh! Heh-heh..." his voice trailed off as he started gagging and his body began trembling. The others didn't notice Bubbles crawling away from them, the children were too busy staring at HIM and Hardly with horrified fascination. However, Blossom and Buttercup saw her lean over the edge of the terrain with a sickly expression on her face, and they tried to rush to her as quietly as possible, but as Blossom placed a hand on Bubbles' shoulder, Bubbles, with tears running down her face, thrust her head down and vomited.

Immediately afterwards, the mist surrounding the super-powered children cleared like a spotlight shining on them. They all stood up besides Blossom and Bubbles, the former trying to comfort the latter. HIM stared at the children; if he was angry at them they couldn't tell, at the moment, HIM just looked deeply ashamed at himself. Dick, however, after spitting out red blobs of saliva, grinned once more and tilted his head upwards.

"Did I just hear a little girl? It sounded like the blonde Powerpuff Girl... Are they all here? And your sons?!" Then Dick cleared his throat, "You girls can be rest assured that I am no longer the man I used to be. Being here has changed my outlook on life." He said the last two sentences with a suprising amount of sincerity, but he continued in a voice that was much more like the way he sounded like back when he was alive,

"Of course, I had to _die_ a slow and painful death along with the others-" his mouth was forced shut when HIM waved one of his claws without even looking at Hardly. By now Bubbles had sat up, she looked less sick and she had stopped crying. She and Blossom stared at HIM along with the others. For the Powerpuff Girls, it felt like going back to the days when HIM would subject them to mind-breaking horrors, when they were too afraid to attack HIM and they would just stare at the demon with frightened awe.

The sisters remembered in their diary, the older Rowdyruff Boys mentioned that they were apparently at least a little afraid of HIM, so the Girls wondered what the boys thought of HIM right now. The boys' father started to take a few steps towards them, and then he held up his stained claws to his chest. His claws and arms began to tremble, HIM looked at the children and he tried to say something.

"I...I..." he spoke in a higher voice. Suddenly, HIM fell down to his knees, and he turned his head away from the children. Dick Hardly, who still was not speaking a word, shifted his head and smirked at his torturer's despair.

Black started to breathe heavily, Buttercup and Butch could see as he scowled, his fangs were slowly growing longer and there was a red tint in his eyes. Before they could react, Black burst into flight and sped towards Dick Hardly. However, before Black could even fly past his father, HIM waved one of his claws once more without even getting up, and the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys found their bodies surrounded by a pink-colored smoke that rose from the ground and clouded their vision so they couldn't see anything else around them anymore.

 **A.N. I'm so sorry. If you're wondering why it got so violent, I was going through a stressful period of my life and I used this story as an outlet. Now, I look back on it with embarrassment, but don't worry, it was a long time ago and I'm just fine now.**


	16. Chapter 16: The Final Chapter?

Chapter 16:

Blossom held Bubbles' hands tightly as the smoke around them thickened,

"Buttercup!" they both cried out; a few seconds later they heard their tough sister shout out,

"I'm okay!" in response. They could all feel the sensations of being transported somewhere and standing on air. Finally, the smoke started to clear, they could feel ground beneath them, and they were able to see each other again.

As the last of the smoke vanished, the seven of them realized they were back in HIM's diner, standing between the entranceway and the counter. Blossom and Buttercup helped Bubbles stand up.

"I'll be fine, I feel better now!" Bubbles reassured her sisters upon seeing their worried faces. The children sat on the stools in front of the counter. It seemed like hours, even though it was only minutes, were spent in silence, Black eventually calmed down and was exteriorly back to normal. The silence was broken when Boomer and Butch began to laugh. At first, it could barely be heard, but it quickly grew louder, yet it remained somewhat soft-but certainly hysterical. Brick punched their arms,

"Oh, c'mon you guys!" he exclaimed, "It wasn't _that_ bad!" It was clear by the way his voice cracked that Brick was just as frightened. Boomer and Butch abruptly stopped laughing, and for the first time the sisters noticed their faces were white as a sheet. Black, who had his head buried in his arms on the counter, raised his head and faced the Powerpuff Girls,

"Do you know... who that man was?" he asked quietly. The girls were taken aback by the question, but they knew there was no point in not answering.

"His name's Dick Hardly," Blossom replied.

"We thought he was a friend of the Professor's," Buttercup explained with disgust.

"But he lied to us!" Bubbles continued, "And he tried to use us to-to..." the blonde heroine burst into tears and her sisters hugged her as she wept. When Bubbles had stopped crying, Black said solemnly,

"You don't have to go on, the moment I saw him, I knew he was evil. I know because I've heard his voice before." The others looked puzzled, so Black explained, "HIM can read Dick's mind, or something, so whenever he speaks to HIM, I can hear what he says. For I while I didn't know what the voice in my head was supposed to be, until that time when we were all eating together here." When he had finished, Brick added confidently,

"There's no way Mojo knows about that place! So maybe HIM won't bring up what happened!" Tears welled up in Black's eyes, and he clenched his fists tightly,

"That Dick said so many awful things!" he snapped, "He insulted every one of us, even the Powerpuff Girls!" As he spoke his kanine fangs grew longer and his eyes suddenly glowed red. Black's brothers grabbed his arms, when he made eye-contact with the sisters again he grinned unnaturally widely. Fortunately, Black let his brothers constrain him, but that didn't make him any less frightening.

Black then spoke with the demonic echo again, this time in a joyously satisfied tone of voice, _"Whatever he did, he deserves being there! If only I could go back... I'd beat Dick Hardly to a bloody pulp! I'd rip off-"_

"Black! Calm down, please!" Bubbles begged.

"Yeah! You're creeping us out!" Butch added. At first, it seemed like Black didn't listen. Then, his fangs retracted to their normal size, his eyes stopped glowing, and as Black took deep breaths the echo in his voice faded. His brothers hesitantly let go of his arms.

"I don't know what came over me..." Black sighed, "But... since I was born in that place, I-" he was interuppted when someone walked into the diner.

"There you are girls!" the Professor greeted, "I was right when I thought you'd be here!"

"What time is it?" Buttercup asked.

"It's five o'clock, time sure does fly fast when you're having fun, am I right?" the Professor laughed. _Were we there for that long?_ all three girls wondered in their minds; it had been at most 12:30 when they discovered the elevator that led them to the strange dimension in the first place.

"I guess it does," Blossom answered. The other six nodded along with her. The Employees Only door swung open and HIM stepped out of it. He was wearing his normal outfit again, and he wore some, but not all, of his usual makeup.

"I don't know about you, HIM," the Professor said to the demon, "But it looks like they had a lot of fun!"

 _"Hm? Oh... yes..."_ HIM's voice trailed off, he was only gazing at his sons. His body trembling ever so slightly, HIM looked on the verge of tears. The Professor however, didn't notice and after he thanked HIM, the Powerpuff Girls exited the diner without trying to make it look like they were in a hurry, when they really were.

"Wait for me Girls!" the Professor called out cheerfully. As they got into the car and drove away from the diner, the Girls couldn't help but wonder about what the Rowdyruff Boys and HIM would do next. Should they have asked their father if they could stay longer? They didn't listen to the Professor as he rambled on about what they'd be having for dinner, but when he turned his head back to look at the Girls, he noted with worry, "Bubbles! Oh, you're so pale! Are you feeling okay?" and the sisters were yanked from their thoughts.

The Professor had stopped his car at the side of the road, and he put a hand on Bubbles' forehead, much to her hesitation.

"I wasn't feeling good a while ago," the blond heroine admitted, "But I'm feeling a lot better now."

"It must be the heat. If you feel sick again, Bubbles, you let me know," Utonium said gently. Bubbles nodded and the Professor started driving once more. Bubbles scowled at her sisters, who looked at her as if she'd revealed everything that had happened. "So..." Utonium began, changing the subject, "Did you go to the park for lunch?"

"Yeah, the Gangreen Gang left us though," Buttercup replied sulkily.

"Ace got into an arguement with the others, so they just left," Blossom added. The Professor looked intrigued,

"The government program HIM told me about last time we were at the diner sounds interesting," he said, "Maybe I should ask someone what that's all about." Nothing else was said on the way home, the Powerpuff Girls and and the Professor's minds were on other things. The heroines tried to think about Ace and the Gangreen Gang, but they couldn't help but worry about what was happening back at the Otto-Time Diner. _Maybe we should visit the Rowdyruff Boys tomorrow..._ They couldn't imagine what was happening there, would the Rowdyruff Boys get into trouble? If so, what would their punishment be?

To the sisters, for the rest of the day it felt like they were in a daze, sleepwalking in a way into their home. Like robots they ate their dinner, the girls were so wrapped up in their thoughts, they weren't fully aware they were even eating dinner. "It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so we can go to the beach the day after..." the Professor was saying. The Girls instinctively nodded. Somehow, their Dad didn't notice how quiet his daughters were.

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup went to bed earlier then usual, around 8:00 after a few hours of watching television, but the Professor didn't mind, "I understand. You must be very tired after all that time outside," he said as the girls went up to their room.

 **A.N. Well, that's about as far as I got before I decided to stop and start anew with my other PPG-themed fan fiction called _Powerpuff Girls Trinity_ , which, while having some of the angsty stuff you saw in this, is much closer to the spirit of the original show, in my ****opinion.**

 **Interestingly, I had a general outline for the rest of the plot to this story in my head, and I can still kind of remember what I was planning to do. Maybe I'll write a final chapter just as an outline for what I could have written had I cared enough to continue, and anyone who actually cares about the story and wants to know what probably would've happened next can check it out. Maybe.**

 **You know what the greatest tragedy of _Powerpuff Girls Forever_ was? While my spelling improved somewhat over the course of this tale, I never learned how to correctly spell the word 'surprise.'**


End file.
